Wait For You
by leaismyangel
Summary: A/U: Finn and Rachel haven't seen or heard from each other since they broke up just after high school. What happens when they run into each other again after 10 years? Well, they become best friends. But, c'mon. It's Finn and Rachel. There is no way that they can stay just friends.
1. Prologue

**Okay this is my first fanfic, so bear with me! This is only the prologue, so I apologize for no finchel. Don't worry, there will be plenty of finchel in other chapters. :) Self-beta'd all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!**

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><p>Rachel rolled her eyes and gave an annoyed huff as she plopped down on the couch next to the teenaged babysitter and checked the clock for the umpteenth time. Her husband was supposed to have been home to pick her up for their date night over <em>two hours <em>ago. He was leaving her sitting here awkwardly waiting for him while the babysitter sat on the couch, staring at her phone. She was really looking forward to this night, too. She was _finally _going to get to reveal to him her big news. Every time she would try to tell him, Kyle would practically blow her off. How he hadn't figured it out by now is beyond her. I mean, she wasn't showing or anything yet, but she had been pretty moody and morning sickness was starting to kick in. Plus, he's her husband. He should just _know _these kinds of things. Plus she even took the night, giving her understudy a chance for the very first time. She _never _misses a show.

Rachel looked over awkwardly at the unneeded babysitter and winced. "You can probably go home now, Taryn. I'm sorry that this happened…again. I thought for sure he would be home on time."

"It's alright, Mrs. Montgomery. I'm sorry you got stood up again."

Rachel cocked her head to the side. She wouldn't exactly call it _stood up_, but whatever. "Yeah… thank you?" She said slowly.

"Just call if you need me." Taryn waved.

Rachel shut the door behind the sixteen year old and trotted up the stairs, going toward her daughter's room. Madie was sound asleep in her brand new 'big girl' bed. Rachel kissed her head and the little girl's eyes fluttered open.

"Momma?"

"Hi baby. Go back to sleep, mommy was just checking on you."

"Where's daddy?"

"He'll be home soon sweet pea."

"Did you and daddy not have your special night?" She asked, innocently.

Rachel pursed her lip. "Not this time."

"Why not?"

"Daddy didn't make it home on time."

"Again?" Madie asked.

"Yea, again." Rachel whispered. "It's okay, we can have it another time." She touched her daughter's nose. Madie nodded and yawned.

"Daddy will come in and kiss you when he gets home. Go back to sleep." Rachel kissed her daughter one more time, before making her way back out of the light yellow bedroom.

Rachel picked up her cell phone, dialing Kyle's number, ready to interrogate him. When a woman answered the phone, she froze.

"Who is this?" Rachel dared to ask, once she found her voice.

"This is Cecile. Who is this?"

_Cecile? _As in the client that he has had for the past 3 months, Cecile? Rachel was silent for a few moments, but she finally plucked up the courage and asked where Kyle was.

"He's in the shower, but should be out in a few minutes. Can I take a message?"

"Where is he at?"

"We are at my place…" Cecile said like it was obvious. "I'm sorry, who is this?"

"It doesn't matter." Rachel hung up the phone as fast as she possibly could. She stomped to her room, blood boiling and tears threatening to spill over. She had her suspicions, but thought she was just being paranoid. She should have known by the way Kyle talked about her or by the amount of time he has been spending on her damn case. Rachel calmed herself down, pacing back and forth in their bedroom, her heels long gone. She managed to get her breathing at a steady pace and climbed into bed, her thoughts going crazy in her mind. Hours later, she had finally cried herself to sleep. She felt Kyle slip into bed late that night, noting how he didn't even try to wake her up to apologize for missing their date or kiss her goodnight.

In the morning when she woke up, she slipped out of bed an hour before Kyle was due to wake up. She stepped into the hot shower, and immediately began crying her eyes out at the realization that her marriage was practically over.

I mean, her marriage had been falling apart for a while now—around six months to be exact. It was only now that she chose to start accepting it. They used to be so damn happy and touchy and just _couply _all the time, going on dates two or three times a week, kissing and sleeping together whenever they had the chance, and just so in love. Then after Madie turned three, he started acting weird and they slowly started growing apart. They fought and screamed more than they actually talked. They (or he) had cancelled countless dates over the past couple of months and Rachel, for the life of her, couldn't understand why. She just put it all down to their schedule—him busy with his lawyer duties, her with Broadway, and both of them with their four year old diva. It was only when they were both completely drunk off their minds that they ever actually touched each anymore, hence the baby. But now it all became clear, he just wasn't in love with her anymore and he never wanted to have sex because he was _cheating _on her. Rachel decided then and there to do everything she possibly could to save her marriage. For the sake of Madie and the baby.

When Kyle finally awoke, he smiled at her down in the kitchen, saying good morning to her and their daughter, acting as if nothing happened.

"Did you forget about last night or did I just make up the whole 'I swear I'll be home on time' thing in my head?" Rachel asked, bitterly.

Kyle froze. "Oh shit, Rachel. I'm sorry. I got held up at work. Cecile's case is really kicking my ass."

Rachel glared at her husband, doing everything she possibly could to not lash out at him in front of their innocent daughter. "Try to make it tonight. I have something planned." She was so quiet, Kyle could barely hear her, but he nodded anyways. He wished her a good day, kissed Madie on the head and left the house without an 'I love you' to either of the girls.

He came home late (and drunk) that night and Rachel screamed and Kyle ended up sleeping on the couch.

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><p>A week later, on a day when he actually came home before dinner, Kyle ran upstairs before even saying hello to Rachel.<p>

"Where's little diva?" He asked when he came back down, a new and more casual suit on his body.

"Kurt just came and got her." Rachel said, not turning around from the stove. "He is going to keep her tonight."

"Smells good in here."

She finally turned and smiled at him. "I'm making us dinner. It's been a while since we've had the place to ourselves and we deserve a nice night together. I even cooked meat for you and I have planned for us to—"

"Sorry Rachel, but I'm going out with the guys."

"Y-you what?" Rachel stopped. "But…"

"Yeah, we've had this planned for weeks. Didn't I tell you?"

"No, you failed to mention that. You don't tell me much of anything these days."

"Must have slipped my mind."

"Please stay tonight, Kyle. There's something I need to tell you. Two things actually."

"No, Rachel. Don't wait up for me, I'll be home late." He turned on his heel, shutting the front door loudly behind him.

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><p>When Rachel finally plucked up the courage to ask Kyle about Cecile, the conversation quickly turned into screaming and throwing things. Kyle ended up leaving and Rachel cried herself to sleep. When she woke up the next morning, Kyle was nowhere to be seen. She went on with her day and picked up Madie from Kyle's parents' house, using her best acting skills to act like their son wasn't an awful father and husband.<p>

When Kyle finally showed back up two days later, he quietly apologized for making her worry and slipped into the confinement of his office.

"What's wrong with daddy?"

"I don't know, baby. I really don't know." Rachel answered her daughter.

They managed to have a civil conversation after a week of more fighting. At dinner that night, he mentioned. "I didn't know that you were nominated for a Tony. Why didn't you tell me?"

Rachel glared at him, her eyes hard and cold. "I tried."

Kyle avoided her eye contact, nodding and finishing his dinner in silence.

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><p>Rachel could handle Kyle no longer being in love with her, but when he started acting the same towards their daughter, she cracked. He wouldn't give her a bath or put her to bed or even play with her anymore. He also failed to pick her up from daycare at least three times. Madie often cried now, saying "I miss daddy." Over and over again. It broke Rachel's heart when she said that and Kyle was just in the other room, blocking out the life it seemed he hated so much.<p>

When Rachel confronted him about it, they fought. Again. He left. Again. He was gone for three days this time.

When he came home, he apologized.

"I can't keep doing this Kyle." Rachel answered. "I've tried everything in my power to save this marriage, but you and I both know that nothing will save it."

That, of course, led to more fighting. They fought until Rachel had to leave for work and right before she walked out the door, she dropped a bomb on him. "I'm pregnant." She slammed the door behind her.

When she came home after her show that night, the house was dark and silent. Rachel trudged up the stairs and her heart dropped when she entered her room. She knew Kyle was probably gone, but she didn't expect _this. _All of his things were gone—half of the closet was empty, half of the dresser drawers were empty, his bathroom things were gone, his watch, his comb, his shoes, his _everything _was gone. There was even a picture of Madie and the sonogram from the dresser missing. All that was left was a note on the neatly made bed saying nothing but, "I'm so sorry. Tell Madie I love her."

**What do you think? Should I post the first chapter? :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello! Thank you for the nice reviews! Here is the first chapter :) It was originally going to be two chapters, but I decided against that. I hope you enjoy! Self beta'd all mistakes are mine! Oh, and I don't own Glee or any of the characters.**

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><p>Finn <em>loves <em>Central Park. Like, really loves it. He's lived in New York for two years now, but he lived in Brooklyn and although he made the trip to Manhattan almost daily, he barely ever actually walked through Central Park and the city never failed to amaze him. It's beautiful, you know? He's so caught up in the city that he doesn't notice the missed calls he has until now. He redialed the number and waited patiently for the woman to pick up.

"Hey babe." She answered cheerfully.

"Hey Hannah. You called?"

"Yeah, like four hours ago. What's going on?"

"Sorry, I was just enjoying myself in the city. I forgot how much I love Central Park."

"Oh, Finn you should have called me! I would have loved to walk around Central Park with you. I don't go as often as I should even though I live like a total of twenty minutes away…" Hannah babbled on.

"Hannah, you're working." Finn interrupted.

"Oh. Right. Did you find anything?" Hannah laughed.

"Yeah, I actually did." Finn nodded. "You'll never guess where."

"Where?" Hannah fished.

"Modern Days. Now I'm not sure, but I recall that this really pretty brunette lives in that building, fourth floor I think."

"No way! You got an apartment in my building?" Hannah squealed.

"Well I found one in your building that I really like."

"I still don't know why you don't just move in with me. I mean it'd be cheaper for both of us and you're going to be in my building anyway and…"

"Hannah, we've talked about this." Finn stopped her.

"I know, Finn. But that doesn't mean that I understand it."

Finn sighed, looking around. Then, he spotted something. He scrunched his eyebrows together for a second before his jaw dropped. He almost let his phone drop to the concrete, but managed to catch it.

"Hello?" Hannah nagged. "Babe."

"Holy shit." Finn said under his breath.

"What? Finn?" Hannah asked, not entertained by her boyfriend's lack of answering.

"I-um… I gotta go Han. I'll call you later." Finn hung up his phone and stuck it in his pocket before she could protest. He took a couple steps to see if what he thought was saw was real. It definitely was. _She _definitely was. He knew this would happen sooner or later, but he figured it would be the latter. He watched in amazement as she pushed two little girls on a swing set. Her long, brunette hair was floating in the wind behind her, her olive skin was shining perfectly in the sunlight, and her deep, chocolate eyes were shining all the way from across the playground. She flashed one of the little girls her perfect pearly white smile, causing a smile to grow on his own face. He decided that he probably looked pretty creepy just standing there staring at a woman and her children, so he got up the courage and walked towards them before he could chicken out and change his mind. He walked around to the back side of the swing set and approached them from behind. Finn gently tapped her on the shoulder, quickly shoving his hands in his pockets before she could turn around.

She was shocked to say the least. She didn't say anything—just gaped—for a solid thirty seconds. A familiar wave of something that she hadn't felt it years washed over her body. She became shaky, speechless, and nervous. How could she not feel that way when she turned around to see him? That familiar smirk, the freckles lightly dusted across the bridge of his nose, and most importantly, the soft hazel eyes.

"Oh my god. Finn." She finally found her voice.

"Hey Rachel."

They hadn't spoken, let alone seen each other, in _years_. The last time she saw him was around 7 years ago right before she got pregnant. Rachel and Kurt were going to see a show together and when she went to pick up Kurt, Finn was at his house. They weren't in the room for five minutes before Kurt pushed her out, complaining that they were going to be late. All she got to do was say a quick hello. She subtly looked him up and down, admiring his built body. He was still just as tall, but now he had a firm chest, broad shoulders, and strong arms that were threatening to bust out of the black V-neck he was wearing. Finn shifted under Rachel's gaze and she smiled up at him, still too shocked to say anything.

"Momma!"

Rachel blinked and snapped back to reality, shaking her head and ignoring her daughter. She needed to say something. _Anything. _"Wow. Um, it's been forever. A really long time." Rachel choked out.

"Too long." Finn nodded. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm great." Rachel answered. "How are you?"

"I'm actually pretty good." Finn answered and Rachel nodded.

They stood awkwardly in silence, staring at each other, taking in what was happening. Seeing each other brought back so many memories for both of them, most good and some bad. Still trying to get over the initial shock, all Rachel could do was smile at him.

"_Mom." _Rachel heard.

"What baby?" Rachel tore her eyes away from the man in front of her and looked down at her older daughter who had hopped off of the swing and was now standing at their feet, staring up at Finn with wide eyes.

"_Who _is this?" She demanded.

"Th-this is…"

"I'm Finn." He spoke up, crouching down to get eye level with the little girl. "I'm an old friend of your mom's. What's your name?"

"Madie." She answered shyly, grabbing her mom's leg.

"Hi Madie. How old are you?"

Madie stepped away from her mom a little bit, pleased that Finn had asked her that question. She held up five fingers and spoke, "I'm five, but I'll be six in two months."

"Whoa! That's awesome." Finn shot her a huge smile. "You're a very pretty girl."

"Thank you." Madie smiled widely.

"It's very nice to meet you." Finn high fived her tiny hand and stood up to see Rachel gleaming up at him.

"And who is this?" Finn asked, gesturing toward the little girl now perched in Rachel's arms.

"That's Ava. She's just a baby, so she can't really talk that much yet." Madie informed.

"They're beautiful." Finn smirked. "How old is she?"

"She is a little over eight months." Rachel spoke. "I'm sorry." She laughed. "You caught me completely by surprise. It's really great to see you. You look good."

"You don't look so bad yourself." He joked.

Finn decided to try and break the ice and invite the three girls to ice cream, to catch up and stuff. A flash of shock blinked across Rachel's face when he asked.

"I mean of course if you have other plans…" Finn began.

"No! We'd love to." Rachel interrupted, a little too quickly.

She was slowly getting over the shock as they got their ice cream, now becoming more happy than anything.

"So what exactly are you doing here? I just came from Kurt's and he never said anything about you visiting." Rachel spoke up. Finn raised his eyebrows at her and chuckled a little bit. "Rachel, I live here."

Rachel almost spit out her ice cream, causing Finn to smile. "Wait, seriously?" Rachel exclaimed.

"Seriously." Finn nodded. "I've lived in Brooklyn for two years."

"No way." Rachel shook her head. "I-I had no idea! I can't believe that. I feel like I should have known that… Why didn't Kurt tell me? You should have called me or—"

"Rachel." Finn laughed. "Breathe."

"Sorry." She cringed.

"I kind of got a job here in Manhattan, though, so I'm looking around for apartments this weekend and if I find something, I'll move here next week."

"What do you mean you _kind of _got a job?" Rachel smiled.

"I got a job here. It's a teaching job." Finn confirmed. He told her all about his new teaching gig and how excited he was.

"I think that it is really amazing." Rachel grinned.

"And as for Kurt… well he doesn't really know yet." Finn gulped. "I mean I haven't even found a place to live yet and he _just _got back from living in London and I was actually going to go tell him later tonight. No one was supposed to know yet…"

"My lips are sealed." Rachel smiled.

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><p>"So three Tony's, huh?" Finn brought up after a while of pointless conversation. Rachel's smile got so big and her eyes began shining brighter than ever.<p>

"Three Tony's." She repeated.

"That is beyond amazing, Rachel. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you so much, Finn. It means a lot. How'd you know?"

"It's not hard to figure out when you live in New York. Plus, there's Kurt and…"

"Ah, gotcha." Rachel nodded.

Finn's phone started ringing again for the fourth time since they've talking. "Do you mind? She won't stop calling until I answer."

"Go ahead." Rachel allowed.

"Hello? No, sorry… I'm _fine_… yes, I promise… I'll come by later… yeah… yeah, love you too…Okay, bye."

Rachel sat on the bench, staring at her daughter in her lap, her ears burning with curiosity.

"Sorry, I hung up on her pretty fast earlier when I spotted you. She was a little worried." Finn explained.

"It's fine." Rachel gave her best smile. "Who was that?"

"Hannah." Finn said it as if Rachel knew who that was.

"Are you two…?" She trailed off. "I'm sorry, that's none of my business."

"_Together?_" Finn asked. "Uh, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We've been together for about a year."

Rachel nodded, still embarrassed that she asked that question. And would it be completely insane to say that she was slightly jealous?

Finn shifted uncomfortably, casting curious glances at Rachel until he finally spoke up. "Can I ask you something?"

Rachel finally looked over at him and nodded.

"You don't have a ring."

"That's not a question." Rachel pointed out.

Finn looked away, staring at his hands in his lap. "S-sorry. I was just… curious, I guess because of Madie and Ava. Not really any of my business."

"No, it's fine." Rachel spoke up. "I asked you. You're allowed to ask me. I'm divorced."

Finn nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a bad marriage with a bad man. It's a good thing that I got out of it."

"Then, that's good… I guess?"

They chatted for a while longer until Rachel had to leave to take Madie to her music lesson.

"I'll see you later?" Rachel asked quietly.

"Definitely."

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><p>Rachel lives in this big apartment complex within walking distance from Central Park and from Madie's school. The three girls share a large penthouse condo with way more rooms than are actually needed. Rachel had never imagined herself living somewhere like this, but her Broadway salary allowed it. She bought it after her divorce with Kyle. It was a fresh start and this way, Kyle didn't know where she lived.<p>

At dinner that night, Rachel fed small bites of foul-smelling pea's and carrot's baby food to Ava, while she nibbled on her pasta and Madie chattered about lord knows what. It wasn't until Madie mentioned Finn when she popped back into reality.

"Huh?" Rachel asked.

"I said I like Finn." Madie spoke, a noodle falling out of her mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, sweetheart."

"Sorry." Madie said, her mouth still stuffed with pasta.

"So, you like Finn?" Rachel asked once Madie had swallowed. She nodded quickly. "Uh huh. He is super nice and _super _tall."

"That he is." Rachel laughed.

"Plus he bought us ice cream." Madie said seriously, her tongue poking out of her mouth as she tried her hardest to get some pasta on her fork. "Are we going to see him again?"

Rachel pursed her lips in thought. "I don't know, honey. Maybe so."

"I think we should."

"I need to talk to Uncle Kurt about something first. He's in big trouble." Rachel joked.

"Why?" Madie's eyes got wide.

Rachel leaned forward on the table. "Did you know that Finn is Uncle Kurt's brother?"

"No!" Madie squealed. "Really?"

"Really." Rachel nodded.

Madie smiled widely as she shoved more food in her mouth.

Rachel made sure her girls were cleaned up and smelling good after their shower, before she attempted to put them to bed. After nearly 30 minutes of her trying to put her to bed in her own bed, Madie ended up in Rachel's room on her King-sized bed. Damn her stubbornness.

When Madie declared that Rachel could pick what song she would sing that night, Rachel started softly singing the words to Faithfully by Journey. She surprised herself when she started singing it.

When Rachel thought that Madie was asleep, she stopped singing and gave her daughter a gentle kiss on the head. She quietly went into the attached bathroom, turned on the bath water and got ready to take a nice, long, and hot bubble bath. Once relaxed, she started replaying her day in her head. She could _not _believe that Finn was living in New York City. Actually, it was quite nice to see him. She enjoyed catching up with him, but she realized that she really didn't know him at all. It's been _ten years _since they've even actually spoken to each other. A lot has happened in ten years. Kurt _rarely _brought him up, which was the reason he was in trouble. She always had to ask how Finn was doing. And even then, Kurt never told her much. Nothing beyond 'He's good.' Or 'Been pretty busy.' Of course, Kurt has lived in London for the past three years and only just got back a month ago, so that could contribute to it, but it still could have been mentioned in a phone call or Skype date.

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><p>As Finn walked into the unfamiliar coffee shop, he was thrilled when he spotted a small, familiar brunette standing in line. He smiled to himself, thinking about how it was possible that he ran into Rachel twice in two days in one of the busiest cities in the world.<p>

"Finn!" Rachel smiled when he made himself known. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Finn shrugged. "I saw this place yesterday and decided to try it out before I headed to my realtors office."

Rachel nodded. "Going to look at more apartments?"

"Sure am." Finn smirked.

"That could be fun, I guess."

"What about you? Why are you out so early?

"I just dropped Madie and Ava off at Daycare and I'm on my way to rehearsal."

"You still have rehearsals while the show is going on?" Finn wondered.

"One rehearsal a month. Our director wants to make sure we are staying in practice and we usually take this time to make changes or work on things that haven't been so good."

"Ah, that makes sense." Finn nodded.

"May I help you?" The cashier asked.

"Uh, I'll take a mocha latte, and a black coffee with a splash of skim milk for the lady."

Rachel smiled up at him. "You remember my coffee order?"

"Of course I do." Finn smirked. He turned to pay just in time to miss the blush that crept across her face. They stepped to the side while the barista made their coffees.

"Finn, I got that coffee order in high school. How are you so sure that it's still the same?"

"Because it's coffee, Rach, and you have always been so specific about it."

Rachel blushed at the nickname and quickly bowed her head, hiding her face from his view.

"So I stopped by Kurt's yesterday." Finn said. "Told him everything."

Rachel raised her eyebrows to show that she was listening.

"He freaked out."

"I bet." Rachel laughed.

"At least he knows now."

"Yeah, we need to plan something altogether." Rachel smiled.

"Definitely."

Finn grabbed the two coffees that the young blonde handed him and nodded a thank you. He handed Rachel hers, and stood with her as she mixed in some Splenda.

"I think she has a little crush on you." Rachel whispered. Finn looked over to where she was pointing and saw the barista staring at him.

"She's like 16." Finn said.

"She won't stop staring at you, and she drew a heart next to your name on your cup. I didn't get a heart." Rachel teased. Finn smiled and nudged Rachel slightly. He opened the door and let Rachel walk out in front of him.

"She's way too young for me. Plus, I prefer brunettes." Finn said it before he had a chance to think about it. His face flushed red and Rachel tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, looking down to hide her own blush. Mark that as the third time he had managed to make her blush in less than five minutes. As they were standing in front of the coffee shop, they heard a man scream Rachel's name. Finn looked over and saw two men holding fancy looking camera's, taking pictures of them. He looked over at Rachel in wonder and saw that she had pulled her sunglasses onto her face, and was smiling and waving at the two men casually. "Paparazzi." Rachel said. Finn nodded his head as he smiled proudly at her. She really had made it, if it meant the paps were following her around. "I guess I should get going now." Rachel pointed.

"Uh, yeah. Sure, I'll see you later." He started to walk towards the street to his car when he noticed Rachel preparing to cross the street.

"Where's your car?" Finn asked.

"I'm walking."

"What? Do you want a ride?" Finn asked, pointed towards his car.

"You have a Range Rover?" Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Look at Finn, Mr. Fancy Pants."

"She's my baby." Finn rubbed the hood. "You know you want to ride in it."

Rachel laughed. "No, it's okay. The theater is just about three blocks down." Rachel pointed.

"Well let me walk you." Finn insisted.

"Finn, really, it's okay!" Rachel giggled.

"What if those paparazzi attack you or something?" Finn asked.

"There's only two of them and they aren't legally allowed to touch me. I promise, I'll be okay. I walk every day."

"Rachel, get in the damn car." Finn opened the door and pointed inside. Rachel laughed loudly and obeyed Finn's orders.

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><p>Rachel and Kurt met at the daycare to pick up their kids, then made their way back to Rachel's apartment for their weekly lasagna dinner. It started before Kurt moved to London, then took a very long break, then automatically began again as soon as Kurt was back.<p>

"So Finn came by my house yesterday. Told me about you guys' little run in." Kurt put out.

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Yeah?"

"So how was it? Seeing him for the first time in what? 10 years?"

"It was actually pretty good. Wasn't _too _awkward for the most part, surprisingly."

"I'm glad you guys got to do that."

"Speaking of which, _you _are in trouble mister." Rachel pointed.

"What did I do?"

"You never talk about Finn! I mean, you didn't even tell me that he lives in New York for goodness sakes! We could have caught up _two years _ago. Even when I asked about him, you only gave me one word answers. I know absolutely nothing about what's happened to him in the last ten years."

"To be honest Rach, I'm not that sure why I never talked about him. I never really talked all that much about you to him either. Plus, I had already been in London for a year when he moved here and you were married and it didn't really cross my mind to tell you. I got so used to staying quiet about the two of you right after you broke up that it just became second nature. Plus it's not really my job to tell the two of you what is going on with the other."

Rachel pursed her lips and nodded. "The fact that I haven't seen or talked him actually _really _scares me."

"How so?" Kurt wondered.

"I know absolutely nothing about him anymore! I used to know _everything._ But now, there is a whole ten years of his life that I know nothing about. He had a life in Lima and Brooklyn that I know nothing about. And he knows just as little about me! Just thinking about that just really terrifies me for some reason."

"Rachel, he is still the same Finn that you dated in High School, just new and improved. Don't let the time frame scare you. Now you'll just have to talk to him more and hang out with him and get to know him again."

"I have a feeling that I will be seeing him around a lot from now on." Rachel said.

"Well that won't be so bad." Kurt suggested.

"Never said it would be. Madie really likes him, too." Rachel smirked.

Kurt gave her an unsure look. "Maybe you two can even maintain a healthy _friendship_. You need more friends." Kurt said jokingly.

"Hey! I have friends!" Rachel defended.

"Oh really? Who? And don't say your cast, because they don't count."

"And why not?" Rachel asked.

"Because you work with them. You're pretty much forced to be friends with them."

"Fine. But I have more friends than just them." Rachel huffed.

Kurt raised his eyebrows.

Rachel went on to list several of her friends. Kurt wasn't sure if some of them counted, but he'll let the poor girl win.

"Alright fine. You have friends. You just need a male friend who you can talk to and hang out with every day without any attached feelings and who will really be there for you, and who aren't a part of your cast. And Blaine and I don't count because we're gay. Someone who will help build your trust up with guys again."

Rachel silently agreed, but stuck her tongue out like a little kid.

"Although, it's you and Finn. I'm not quite sure it's possible for you two to stay just friends." Kurt mumbled.

"We can so!"

"Mhm, okay Rachel." He nodded sarcastically.

"Have you met Hannah?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not yet. But Finn seems smitten enough with her."

Rachel nodded and checked the time and decided to get started on dinner. As she was preparing, Kurt's phone started ringing.

"Hey Finn." Kurt answered, causing Rachel to look over at him.

"Hey little bro."

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm completely free tonight and I'm bored out of my mind sitting in Hannah's apartment while she works, so I was wondering if you were free and wanted to get together."

"Uh… Hold on." Kurt pressed the phone to his shoulder. "Finn wants to get together with me for dinner." He told Rachel. She shrugged and said as casually as she could, "So invite him over."

Kurt put the phone back up to his ear and spoke into it. "Finn, I'm having dinner at Rachel's, but you are more than welcome to join us."

There was silence on the other line.

"Oh… um are you sure…?"

"Positive." Kurt agreed.

"Okay…"

"Her address is 3424 Hamilton Avenue. Penthouse apartment C."

"Penthouse? Wow, okay. I'll be there in a little while."

"Okay, bye." Kurt Hung up. "Looks like we'll have a guest at our Hummel-Berry dinner."

"Looks like it." Rachel giggled. She was actually kind of nervous, though she didn't know why. She just pushed away the thought, and continued preparing her Vegan Lasagna.

As Rachel was checking on the Lasagna in the oven, there was a knock on the door. The kids came flying down the stairs as Rachel was going to answer it. "Wow that was quick." Rachel wondered out loud. She opened the door with Ava on her hip and a smile grew on her face once she spotted Finn standing there. "Finn, hi."

He looked behind him and back at the short woman standing in front of him. "Hey Rachel."

They both stood there for a couple seconds before Rachel said, "Um come in. Sorry."

He smirked and walked in slowly as Rachel shut the door behind him. Braylon, Kurt's son, came running from the hallway when he saw him screaming, "Uncle Finn!"

"Hey buddy!" Finn laughed as he picked up his nephew.

"We have to do something about your fashion choices." Kurt commented as he walked inside.

"What's wrong with this?" Finn argued.

"It's a little too dark."

Finn chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Everyone in New York wears black, right?"

"That may be Finn, but they don't wear _all _black. You look like you're about to rob us."

They shared a smile and Finn noticed Rachel standing in the doorway. He made his way over to them, shooting Madie a hello and a wink on the way.

"Hi Ava." Finn stuck out his hand for her to grab. She smiled a toothy smile at him. "She's so cute. Mind if I hold her?"

"Go ahead!" Rachel smiled. "If she'll let you. She is my shy one." He gently took Ava out of her arms and bounced her in his arms. Instead of her crying for Rachel like she usually did when a stranger held her, she giggled loudly, shoving her hands in Finn's face. Rachel was mesmerized by the handsome man with her baby girl in his arms.

"Rachel!" She heard Kurt say loudly. "The oven has been beeping for a while now."

"Oh gosh, sorry. I'll go check on it."

Dinner was served quickly and no one took any time before digging in. Finn took a huge bite and chewed slowly before he swallowed and said, "Wow this is _really _good. Way better than easy mac and Ramen noodles."

Kurt rolled his eyes and Rachel giggled. "Thank you, Finn. I'm glad you like it."

They were halfway through dinner, and things were surprisingly comfortable with the conversation flowing easily.

"I got an apartment." Finn announced at one point.

"Where at?" Kurt asked.

"Modern Days. It's fairly close to here."

"So you move in next week?" Rachel asked.

"Yep. I start setting up my classroom and stuff on Tuesday and then my first day is a couple weeks after that." Finn smiled proudly.

"What school are you at?" Rachel wondered in hope.

"Manhattan Park Private Academy."

"That's where Madie and Bray will be starting out this year." Rachel smiled widely.

"Really?!"

Kurt and Rachel both nodded.

"Maybe I'll get lucky and get both of them in my class." Finn smirked.

"I want Uncle Finn to be my teacher!" Braylon said.

Finn winked at both of the kids.

"Well there are only two kindergarten teachers there, so there is a good chance."

"So how long have you been teaching?" Rachel wondered.

"Right out of college. I have my master's so it took me longer in college, so this will be my fifth year teaching. Fourth year teaching in New York."

"We're really glad that you're here." Rachel said sweetly.

"I am too. I'm enjoying it so far." He chuckled.

"It's nice to catch up." Rachel laughed.

"Mommy, what's for desert?" Madie said bringing them out of their conversation. Rachel looked around and noticed everyone's plates were empty. "Oh shoot. Um. I forgot to put the pie in the oven…" She thought for a second. "How about I go put it in right now? It's not frozen so it should only take around 20 minutes to hear up." She suggested. She looked around for approval and everyone seemed to nod their heads. Finn stood and started gathering everyone's plates and silverware along with Rachel. He followed her into the kitchen with his hands full of table ware and headed over to the sink. Rachel saw him and said, "Oh Finn you really don't have to do that. You're a guest. Please go sit back down."

"No, no, no. It's the least I can do. You made us an amazing dinner. Really, let me do something for you." Finn pleaded.

Rachel smiled. "Alright. At least let me help you." She finished putting the pie in the oven and made her way over to the sink where Finn had already started rinsing the dishes off. "I'll wash and rinse, and you can dry. Okay?" Finn said. Rachel made a pouty face but knew that she wasn't going to be able to help anymore. They had a steady system and it didn't take them long at all to finish. Once all the dishes were done, Rachel cleaned off Ava's face while she giggled in Finn's arms. She offered him a cup of newly made coffee and he happily obliged. He leaned against the counter while she checked on the pie and asked, "How are your dads doing?"

Rachel closed the oven and leaned on the counter opposite of him, cradling her coffee in her hands. "They have been good. Just work, work, work. Haven't seen them in a while now that I think about it. How's your mom and Burt? Kurt hasn't really said much about them these days."

"They're good. Burt is super busy, but I think he is about to retire." Finn said.

Rachel nodded her head and looked the other way.

"So how long have you been doing Fanny?" Finn wondered.

"A little over a year. It's doing a lot better than we originally thought it would." Rachel smiled. "So they are aiming for a 2 to 3 year run."

"That's really awesome. And how long did you do Eponine?" Finn asked with a genuine smile. "C'mon I gave you a rundown of my life, now it's your turn."

Rachel smiled proudly. "When I was 19 I got the part of Eponine, and I quit that part when I was 20 for several different reasons. Then I got the part of Wendla in Spring Awakening when I was 21 and stayed with that doing workshops and off-Broadway productions until it finally made it to Broadway. Then I got in a new musical that had just been written and was trying to make it for Broadway. It ran for about a year and then I got Fanny when I was 27 and have been doing it ever since."

"Wow Rach. That is beyond amazing. Plus, getting three Tony's out of that. It's outstanding. You have one for Fanny, right?"

Rachel profusely blushed and nodded.

"Want to hear a secret?" Finn asked.

Rachel looked up at him and nodded.

"I was at your opening night of Les Mis." Finn smirked.

Rachel's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious. I got seats far away from where everyone we knew would be sitting, and I didn't tell anyone. They were front row, to the very left. It was always my dream to see you on your opening night, and I couldn't let that dream go. No matter what the circumstances."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Rachel smiled.

Finn shrugged. "I don't know. I thought that you were mad at me or something. I don't really remember to be honest." He smiled.

"That really means a lot Finn. You are the one who believed in me so much in high school and you are the reason why I am even on Broadway right now. It makes me really happy to know that you were there that night." Rachel blushed.

"You were amazing, by the way." Finn said.

"Thank you." Rachel smiled.

The oven dinged minutes later, and Finn helped Rachel carry the plates of pie.

"Careful guys. It's _very _hot." Rachel warned.

They all began their desert and Finn asked, "So have you guys talked to Santana and Brittany?"

Rachel nodded and said. "Yeah they live on the Upper East Side. We see them every couple of weeks. They have 6 year old twins, a boy and a girl, Maddox and Hadley."

Finn raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Twins and the Upper East Side. Never would've thought. I haven't seen them since I moved here."

Kurt and Rachel chuckled and everyone finished their pie in a comfortable silence, Rachel feeding small bites to Ava.

After everyone was finished, Rachel stood and started gathering plates but Finn stopped her and said, "Please Rachel let me do this." She smiled, blushed halfway, and continued to help anyways.

Once everything was cleaned up and all the dishes were done, it was getting late. "I think that we really should get going now. Braylon needs to bathe and get in bed if I actually want him to wake up in the morning. Plus he looks like he's beat." He said. "You ready to go buddy?" Kurt announced.

"Yeah, I should get going too. I gotta get up early again." Finn winced. As they made their way to the front door Finn continued. "Thanks again for dinner, Rach."

"No problem, Finn. You're always welcome." She blushed at the use of her nickname. He is still the only person that calls her that.

Finn stepped closer and gave Rachel a small side hug, wrapping one arm around her small waist. She did the same, reaching one arm across his back.

Once they got in the elevator, Finn picked Braylon up and the little boy laid his head on his uncle's shoulder. Kurt looked over and smiled at the sight. "You really would make a great father, Finn. I see how you are with kids." Kurt assured.

Finn smiled proudly and patted Braylon on the back. "I want nothing more than to have some kids of my own." As they walked out of the elevator and to the parking garage Kurt said, "So I was surprised at how comfortable that was. To be honest I thought it was going to be awkward as hell."

"Nice to know I have some solid friends in the city." Finn smirked.


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello :) Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it! It's mostly just friendly Finchel. We won't be into romantic Finchel for a while, but please just bear with me! We will get there I promise! Self-beta'd, all mistakes are mine. I don't own Glee or any of the characters.**

* * *

><p>Rachel and Kurt spent the entirety of the following weekend helping Finn move into his apartment and unpack. Finn handled the heavy stuff and setting up all of the furniture while Kurt decorated and Rachel unpacked the smaller things like pillows, books, kitchen and bathroom stuff, and she even helped Finn fold and hang up all of his clothes. After the long ass weekend, Finn crashed the Hummel-Berry dinner again, and didn't end up getting home until late, where Hannah was waiting for him in the lobby.<p>

"Oh—hey Han. What are you doing down here?"

"I have been waiting for you forever. I thought you said you would be home right after you got done at the school?"

"Yeah, I did say that didn't I?" Finn scratched the back of his neck. "But I ended up having dinner with Kurt and Rachel again. Sorry, I would have called if I knew you were waiting for me."

"You had dinner with them again?"

"Yeah, they invited me, so why not?" He shrugged.

"Oh. I was planning on us going out to dinner."

"Gosh, I'm sorry babe. You should have told me!"

"No, no it's not your fault. I'm glad you had fun with them." It sounded a bit sarcastic.

The next day, Kurt called and asked Finn if he could pick Braylon up from daycare and watch him for a little while. He spotted Rachel walking up the sidewalk as he approached the curb in front of the daycare. He waved and stepped out of his fancy new car, immediately heading in her direction.

"I know I've said this multiple times already, but I still really like your car. I mean I never you imagined you driving a _Range Rover." _Rachel laughed.

"It's a big step up from that old junk of a truck."

"Hey! I actually loved that truck! A certain uniqueness about it. Lots of memories in that truck." Rachel blushed.

Finn waggled his eyebrows at her jokingly and laughed at her horror.

"So what are you doing here?" Rachel wondered, trying to change the subject.

"Kurt had some fashion emergency and asked if I would pick Braylon up. I want to spend more time with him and stuff."

"That's really sweet." Rachel smiled. "Did you have a good day at the school today?"

"Yep." Finn grinned. "I got more of my classroom set up, met all the other teachers, and even attended my first meeting.."

"Good for you!" Rachel nudged his shoulder. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks Rach." Finn smiled as he opened the door for her. They signed out the children and as they were walking out the door, Madie asked, "Can Finn come to the party?"

Finn looked at her questioningly and Rachel explained. "We are having an End-of-Summer pool party next Wednesday at 4:00. You are welcome to come. Hannah too, I'd like to meet her."

"That sounds like fun. I think I can make it. Thank you for inviting me." He smiled. "I don't know if Hannah will make it though. She works a lot."

Rachel nodded. "It'll give you the chance to meet new people in Manhattan. There should be some guys there. Dads of the kids' friends and some of Kurt and Blaine's friends."

"Awesome."

She looked down at her watch and said, "I guess we better get going. Madie has dance at 5."

"Yeah, we should probably get going too." He patted Braylon's shoulder.

"I'll see you boys later." Rachel smiled.

Finn got into his car and Rachel walked closer to the curb to try to find a taxi. Finn noticed this action and scrunched his eyebrows. He looked back at Braylon and then put one foot out of the car, craning his neck around the door.

"Hey Rachel!" Finn yelled. She dropped her hand and turned towards Finn. He stepped completely out of the car and shuffled towards her. "Do you need a ride?"

"Oh no, it's fine. We take a taxi every day."

"Come on we have plenty of room. It will be no trouble at all. I have to stop at the store by your apartment anyway and get some things for dinner."

Rachel looked around. "You don't have a child seat for Ava."

Finn made a thoughtful face, before smiling brightly. "Yes I do." He ran around to the back of his car. Rachel watched as he pulled a baby seat out of his trunk. "It's a little small, but she'll fit." He smiled.

"Why in the world do you have that in your trunk?"

"Do you really want to know?" Finn winced.

Rachel nodded.

"I used to babysit kids all the time in Brooklyn, and I bought this a long time ago so I would be able to take them places. I guess I forgot to give it back and I found it packed in the moving truck. I was going to donate it, but decided to stick it back here in case we went somewhere together…" He shrugged.

Rachel laughed. "That's adorable, Finn. You babysit?"

"So you'll take my ride?" Finn asked, changing the subject.

"Okay. That would be lovely."

He smirked proudly and gestured for them to follow him.

He opened the back door, strapped the car seat in and helped Madie and Ava in, then opened the passenger door and helped Rachel in before walking around the other side and getting in the driver's seat. He looked around at everyone in the car and smiled before starting the ignition.

"So have you taken taxi's everywhere ever since you moved here?" Finn asked.

Rachel nodded. "Everywhere. It's either taxi, subway, bus, or walking."

"So how do you take taxis if you don't have a child seat?"

"Some taxi's offer child seats, but they are not very clean, so I usually just hold her in my lap and she's fine. I opted out of taxis and carried them around in their car seats or just used strollers when they were small babies. It's not ideal, but it's actually not as bad as you think. Saves a lot of money on gas."

Finn lowered the corners of his mouth and stuck out lip and nodded. Before they knew it, Finn pulled up to Rachel's apartment building. She turned to him and said, "Thank you so much Finn."

"You're very welcome. Anytime you need a ride, I'm here." Finn said sincerely.

"Okay, I just might take you up on that offer." Rachel said playfully.

* * *

><p>"Mommy, I really like Finn. I hope he's my teacher this year."<p>

"Oh?" Rachel raised her eyebrows at her oldest daughter. "And why do you like him so much?" Madie has never showed interest in any of Rachel's friends before. _Especially _male friends.

Madie shrugged. "He's super nice. And Braylon has told me all of these funny stories about him and he always talks about how awesome of an uncle he is. So I think he's awesome too. And he actually pays attention to me and Avie and plays with our dolls and everything!"

Rachel smiled at her daughter's reasoning.

"He is nice isn't he?" Rachel replied. "And he's not too bad looking either." She mumbled.

"You think Finn is cute, don't you mommy?" Madie taunted.

Rachel raised her eyebrow at her daughter. "I never said that."

"But you do." Madie confirmed.

"I…"

"You do."

* * *

><p>When he arrived at Kurt's new store, Finn slowly opened the door and searched around. He spotted Kurt in the very back with Blaine, Braylon, Rachel, Ava and Madie. Finn gave a small smirk and made his way towards the back of the store.<p>

"Hey guys!" Finn smiled. He stepped closer to Rachel and said, "Give me that baby!"

Rachel smiled and handed a happy Ava over to Finn, admiring how gentle he was with her.

"Alright who is ready to shop?!" Kurt said clapping his hands.

"Not me." Finn said, bouncing the small girl in his arms. "You can do everything, and I'll just hand over the money."

"Finn, you have to try stuff on."

"I don't wanna." Finn pouted.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll do Madie first. But as soon as I'm done with her, you're next." He pointed. Kurt and Blaine led Madie and Braylon to the children's section. Finn and Rachel found a sitting area nearby and sat down. Finn still had Ava in his hands and Rachel was still admiring him.

"Did you have a show today?" Finn asked.

Rachel shook her head. "No, I had off today. Spent the day with my girls."

"It's cool that you have days off to spend with them."

"Yeah, my producer is pretty great. He knows what it's like to have a family and work in the Broadway industry so he is very understanding and tries to get us days to ourselves as much as possible. He also tries to make sure that we don't have too many evening shows during the week so we can have dinner with our families and such."

"Where do Madie and Ava go when you have a show at night?" Finn asked.

"They go to Kurt's and spend the night, or I get a babysitter if I'm not going to be too late."

Finn nodded his head and went back to bouncing the baby on his knee. "I can totally watch them anytime you need. I have that extra bedroom."

"Really? That would actually be pretty cool. It would give Kurt a break. He and Madie bicker like brother and sister. It's quite hilarious, to be honest. I mean she's five and knows just what buttons to push with Kurt."

"Makes me like her even more." Finn smirked.

"So how was your day?" Rachel smiled.

"It was good. Didn't do much, just organizing my classroom. Yours?"

"Had a mommy-daughter day with the girls."

Ava squealed, shoving her hand in Finn's face. She giggled, throwing her head into his shoulder. He smirked at the wiggling baby in his lap. "She has your eyes. They are so big, brown, and beautiful."

Rachel blushed and looked down at her hands. "Thank you."

"Your hair too." Finn added. "Thick and brunette. She really does look a lot like you."

"Thank you." Rachel smiled.

"And Madie is identical to you."

"Yeah, and she has a lot of characteristics of my personality. Which can be scary." She laughed.

"Madie has your smile too. And her little giggle is similar to yours." Finn said. He smiled at her and then looked down at Rachel's shirt. She followed his eyes and looked down at it herself. Then he lifted his head and looked the other way, then back at her shirt.

"What?" Rachel asked, confused.

"I think you are wearing that shirt." Finn said pointing to a rack full of shirts the exact same as hers.

Rachel looked back down at herself and then back up. "Wow, that's embarrassing." She laughed.

"I take it you shop here a lot?" Finn chuckled.

"Yeah, Kurt refuses to let me shop alone. I don't know why because I am over the animal sweaters and plaid skirts. I am perfectly capable of shopping for my own stuff, but he gets all pissy when I shop without him." Rachel laughed. "I guess he just really likes me wearing his clothing lines."

"When did the animal sweaters go away? I actually liked them. Very…. _Unique._" Finn smiled.

Rachel blushed. "I was well into college when Kurt and Santana forced a make-over upon me. But I actually really like the style that they forced me into, so it wasn't so bad."

"I like it too." Finn smirked.

"Rachel! Your daughter has no idea how to match!" Kurt came over, looking distraught.

Rachel laughed. "Kurt, she's five. Give her a break."

"You have to start teaching early or else she's going to end up wearing the same clothes you did in high school!"

"I'm sorry Kurt, I'll try harder." Rachel said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"That's all I ask."

"Actually, Finn and I were just talking about my clothes."

"They look much better, don't they?" Kurt asked towards Finn.

"I liked the way she used to dress." Finn smirked.

"You only liked it because she always wore short skirts, and it was easy access." Kurt said sarcastically forgetting about the kids.

"Easy access to what?" Braylon asked.

Everyone's head shot down to the kids, and they all said in unison, "Nothing."

Kurt ushered the kids away and continued to take things off the racks for Madie and handed over for Blaine to carry. Almost an hour later, Rachel was standing at the register paying well over $500 for Madie's new clothes. She really had no choice. Next, it was Finn's turn. To his delight, Rachel decided to stick around and put her input in on his clothes. While the kids were off playing in another part of the store, Kurt was handing Finn piles of shirts and pants to try on. He would walk out every time he put something new on and everyone would critique it, Ava clapping at some of the shirts. At one point, he got tired of going back and forth and he just ripped the shirt off right there in front of everyone. Kurt and Blaine didn't seem to mind and Finn noticed how Rachel couldn't keep her eyes off of him, which made him blush a lot. A long ass time later, Finn was checking out with an unbelievable amount of clothes.

"You guys are still coming to the party next week, right? I mean you're pretty much required to come."

"What time do we need to come over?" Kurt asked.

"The party starts at 4:00, so maybe around 3:00- 3:30?" Rachel asked. "We won't actually start cooking the burgers and stuff until later, but it would be nice to have some help setting up."

"Okay, we'll be there." Blaine said.

"You want a ride home?" Finn turned towards Rachel.

Rachel looked around at the empty street and before she could answer he said, "Actually that wasn't really a question. I'm giving you a ride home."

She smiled and he opened the door for her.

* * *

><p>Hannah called him Finny one time, and he froze.<p>

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing. Just please don't call me that." He tried to make it sound as kind as possible.

"What? Finny? Why not, it's cute."

Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "I-uh… well, there's only ever been two people that can call me Finny and…"

"I'm not one of them?" Hannah raised an eyebrow.

"Well…" Finn winced. He really didn't want to this to turn into an argument.

"Who are the two people?"

"My mom and…"

"And?" Hannah pushed.

"Rachel." Finn let slip. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Just please don't call me that." He asked nicely, hoping she didn't catch that Rachel part. He honestly did not mean for that to come out of his mouth.

"Rachel? The friend from high school and Kurt's best friend?"

Finn nodded.

"And why is it that she is allowed to call you Finny, but your girlfriend is not?"

"She doesn't call me Finny _anymore_, but she used to and it was just kind of her thing." Finn shrugged. "And my mom has been calling me that since I was born."

Hannah never really dismissed it.

* * *

><p>Rachel arrived at Kurt's to pick up the girls just in time to eat breakfast. Afterwards, as Rachel was packing all of the girl's things, she noticed that something was missing. It was Ava's stuffed doll that Madie gave to her when she was born and that she took <em>everywhere <em>with her. Madie's doll was there, but Ava's was missing.

"Madie, where is Beadie? Does Ava have it with her?" Rachel asked her daughter. Madie named her Beadie when she gave it to her baby sister because of the small little bead type things she had in her.

Madie looked at her sister and saw that she was empty handed. She shrugged.

"Did she not sleep with her?"

"No I guess not. She wouldn't stop crying last night though. I think she missed you." Madie said quietly.

Rachel raised her eyebrows. Ava never slept without Beadie. That must be why she was restless.

"Did she forget her at home?"

Madie quickly shook her head, "No, I remember Ava having her at Finn's house because she tried to give her to Hannah."

Rachel was confused. When were they at Finn's house?

"AvaBear, where is Beadie?" Ava looked all around her for a few seconds, before looking back up at her mother with wide eyes. She busted out in tears.

"Oh sweetie come here." Rachel said picking her up. "Don't worry. We'll find her."

She grabbed their bag and then carried her down the stairs.

"Kurt have you seen Beadie? We can't find her and she is freaking out." Rachel said.

Kurt looked around seeming to think. His eyes widened and said, "Oh she must have left it at Finn's! We left in such a hurry and I guess she just didn't have time to grab it."

"Wait—why were you at Finn's?" Rachel asked.

"We just stopped by for a few minutes to hang out. Then Blaine called me with a flat tire and we rushed out."

Rachel nodded her head and said, "Do you think you can call Finn and ask him if he's got it?"

Kurt nodded and quickly pulled out his phone. Rachel stood there swaying back and forth with Ava still crying in her arms and Madie gently trying to help soothe her—she is a really good sister. The phone call was short and Kurt told us that Finn found it in his spare bedroom last night.

"Did you hear that Aves? Finn has her. He kept her safe for you." Rachel said moving the hair out of her daughters face.

Ava didn't quite understand what she was saying and continued with her loud crying.

Rachel winced. She gathered Madie's things and Kurt gave her some of Braylon's stuff. Kurt and Blaine were managing some kind of photo shoot for the store and Rachel agreed to watch Braylon all day. They told Kurt and Blaine goodbye and the four walked out the door. Rachel caught a cab and they made their way to Finn's apartment. It took a few minutes, but eventually Finn answered his door shirtless, only wearing a pair of sweatpants, his hair sexily messy. Rachel's eyes flickered down at his _much _toned abs and back up to his face. _Don't stare, Rachel._ She thought to herself.

"Ra—Rachel! What are you doing here?" Finn asked embarrassed.

"Um…" She snapped her gaze back up to Finn's face. "K-Kurt called earlier? Asked about a doll that belonged to Ava? We're here to pick it up…" Rachel said trying not to look down at his body.

"Oh yeah. Right. Um come in." Finn said stepping out of the way. He led them into the living room and then disappeared mumbling that he will be right back. He came back from down the hallway with Beadie in his hands. Ava's face lit up and reached for him.

She squealed, squeezing the doll.

"Can you say thank you?" Rachel tried.

Ava managed to babble out something incomprehensible.

"I think that means thank you. We are still working on our vocabulary." Rachel laughed.

He laughed and high-fived the baby. "It was no problem Ava. I'm glad I could help."

"Did we wake you up?" Rachel asked concerned.

"Nah you didn't. Kurt did though." Finn laughed.

Rachel had a brooding look on her face and said, "I am so sorry! It's just that Ava was crying and we needed to find her doll—"

"Rach, calm down! I'm kidding! I was already awake. I couldn't sleep."

Rachel blushed at his use of her nickname.

"Oh okay. Good. Well not that you couldn't sleep, but that we didn't wake you up."

Finn laughed and said, "I got it." She smiled as he continued on, "So you want a cup of coffee? Just made some."

She looked down and said, "Sure."

They all walked into the Kitchen and as he was pouring some coffee he asked, "So what do you guys have planned for today?"

"I'm taking the girls and Braylon to the circus later." Rachel responded.

"Well that sounds like tons of fun." Finn said looking down at Madie.

Rachel looked down to her coffee and realized that Finn put some Skim milk and Splenda in it. She looked up at him and he smirked knowingly.

"What are you doing today?" Rachel asked.

"I was gonna head up to the school for a while, but other than that nothing really."

"Do you want to come to the circus with us?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"Seriously?" Finn asked.

Rachel smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it would be fun."

"I've never been to a circus before."

"Oh, then you're definitely going to have to come now."

"And you're sure that it would be okay for me to tag along?"

"What do you think guys?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah! It would be funner with Finn!" Madie exclaimed.

"Honey it's more fun. Funner isn't a word." Rachel corrected.

Finn smiled widely and asked, "What time does it start?"

"Noon."

Finn looked at his watch and noticed it was 9:30. "Why don't you guys just come up to the school with me, then we can head over to the venue."

"Okay." Rachel smiled.

"Are you sure that it's okay if I come with you? I don't want to ruin anything." Finn asked while cracking some eggs and scrambling them up.

"I promise Finn." Rachel smiled.

Finn pursed his lips and nodded his head while putting some toast in the toaster.

"Are you hungry?"

"No, we just ate. Thank you though."

After Finn ate, he disappeared down the hall again and came back with a shirt on, his hair styled, and with some shoes on. "Ready?" He sighed.

The second Finn turned the car on Faithfully by Journey started playing extremely loudly. The kids covered their ears and Rachel and Finn both got wide eyed. Finn didn't know what to do at first, but finally turned it all the way down and ejected the Journey CD. He looked over at a flustered Rachel and said, "Sorry. I was listening to Journey the other day. Didn't realize it was that loud."

She smiled over at him and nodded.

"Hey! That was the song that mommy sang me and Avie to sleep with for the past couple nights!" Madie blabbed.

Finn raised his eyebrows and looked over at Rachel. She blushed profusely and said, "It's a good song."

Finn nodded and let out a little chuckle before mumbling, "It sure is."

They stopped by his classroom for a few minutes. Rachel was amazed at how far along it has come in the short amount of time Finn has been working on it. She especially loved the music corner that was already set up. Rachel helped him hang up a few things, helped him organized a few things, and even helped him move some things around. Before they left, she sat in Finn's big desk chair, spinning around slowly while Finn waited on some needed paperwork.

Once they arrived at the circus, Finn dropped every one off at the front and went to find a parking spot. When Finn got to them and Rachel handed him his ticket he said, "When did you get these?"

"Just now." Rachel said pointing at the ticket booth.

"How much were they? Let me pay you back!"

"Nope, not telling! You have been driving and you've paid for plenty these last couple of weeks. Let me do this."

Finn almost let it slide before he noticed that they were _front row _tickets. "Whoa whoa whoa these are front row! They must have been expensive! Please just let me pay for me and Bray!"

"No Finn! It really was no problem. Besides, kids get in for next to nothing, so it wasn't even that much." Rachel insisted.

Before he could fight back she turned around and started walking towards the entrance.

"You coming?" She yelled over her shoulder.

He laughed and caught up to them. "I will not let this go." Finn whispered in her ear, causing chills to run down her spine. Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed as Finn walked ahead and led them to their seats, trying to force herself to believe that she got chills because of the breeze and not because of Finn's warm breath in her ear. As soon as they found the seats they settled down and the show started within minutes. Rachel and Finn sat on either end of the 3 kids, but every once and a while they would look over at each other and smile. The show lasted around 2 and a half hours and not one part of it was boring. Ava even sat contently through it. There was even a part where the kids got to go down to the arena and play a game with the Ring Master and monkey. Ava wasn't allowed to go because she was too young, but she was perfectly content resting in Finn's lap. (It kind of surprises Rachel when Ava wants Finn to hold her. She's usually stuck to Rachel.) The kids all absolutely loved it. On the way out they stopped and each of the kids got their face painted. Madie a cat, Ava a butterfly, and Braylon a clown. Then they stopped and a clown came and made them each a balloon animal. When it was time to go, they all walked out to the car and Finn drove them to a restaurant of Rachel's choice.

"So you sing and dance like your momma?" Finn asked as they waited for their food.

Madie smiled widely and was very pleased with the attention she was getting. Rachel gave her a look and said, "Well tell him."

"I have been taking piano and voice lessons since I was 3 and I have been dancing since I was 2. And I just got moved up to the advanced classes which has _teenagers _in it."

"Before you say anything, _she _was the one who wanted to start everything at such a young age. She wasn't forced into anything." Rachel made clear.

"I wasn't thinking that at all." Finn chuckled.

"I know, but a lot of people get all judgmental about that kind of stuff because of my profession and the only reason I allow all of it at such a young age is because she loves it. If she's happy, I'm happy."

"It sounds like you have a lot of your mother's genes." Finn directed towards Madie.

"I hate to say it, but she is much better at singing and dancing than I was when I was her age." Rachel admitted. "Plus she is amazing at piano, which never was one of my strong suits."

"Dang, then you must be really really good." Finn said shocked. "I need to see you perform sometime."

"We have an End of Summer recital next weekend! You _have _to come." Madie demanded.

"Well I think I just might do that." Finn said smiling.

Their food came after that and they all silently devoured it. Once everyone was finished, Finn paid and they all walked back out to the car. About 10 minutes after they drove away, all three kids were passed out. Rachel took her phone out and took a picture. They looked so adorable asleep in their face paint. She quickly posted the picture on Twitter with the caption 'Tired after an amazing day at the Circus!'

After they arrived at Rachel's apartment, Rachel picked Ava up and Finn grabbed Madie and Braylon, one in each arm. He followed Rachel upstairs and into her apartment. They ended up waking up on the journey upstairs.

"Finn, will you do me a favor?" Rachel asked.

"Anything." Finn shrugged.

"Do you mind watching them for a few minutes while I take a quick shower? If you don't want to, I could just shower when they fall asleep, but—"

"Absolutely." Finn smiled. "Go ahead, I got this."

After Rachel had climbed into the shower, Madie decided that they should play Candy Land and led them all into the Playroom. She pointed up to the top shelf of a shelving unit that covered the whole wall. He pulled the game down and the four immediately got into a game, Ava not as much playing as just banging the game pieces around on the board while sitting in Finn's lap. After 1 round, Rachel walked in wearing tiny shorts and a big t-shirt with her wet hair in a towel.

"Care if I join?" Rachel smiled.

"Not at all." Finn raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

After another 3 rounds of getting beat, Finn decided to call it quits and head home.

"Thank you for inviting me Rach. I had a lot of fun."

"It was my pleasure Finn. I know that it wouldn't have been that fun if you hadn't of come along with us. Oh and thank you for lunch."

"No, thank you for the tickets. I'm still not going to let that go!" Finn said.

Rachel shook her head and laughed. Finn leaned in and gave her a tight hug.

"Bye Rach."

"Bye."

Rachel got on Twitter on her IPad and looked through the comments on the picture of the kids sleeping.

_Awww they are so cute!_

_Is that Braylon?_

_So cute! _

_They look precious! Love the face paint!_

_Cute kids._

_Did you adopt another kid? _(Rachel laughed at this one)

_Whose little boy is that?_

_They are getting so big. Ava especially! :)_

_Isn't that Kurt Hummel's son?_

_Did you guys have fun at the circus?_

_I saw you guys there! You were there with a really tall and handsome man! Who is he?_

There were about 20 more comments and they all pretty much said the same thing. At around 7:00 she got a text from Finn saying: 'Hey Rach! It's Finn. I had a great time today. Thank you for inviting me. :) Can't wait until next time.' She texted back a quick 'No problem. Had fun with you. Xo'

When Finn entered his building, he spotted Hannah sitting in the lobby, talking to another woman. He waved at her as she pranced up to him, greeting him with a kiss. "Hey babe! Where have you been all day? I went by your apartment and tried calling you." She pouted.

"I went to the circus!" Finn smiled. He pulled out his phone and frowned when he realized it was dead. "My phone died."

Hannah gave him a confused look. "Why in the world did you go to the circus?" She laughed.

"Rachel was taking the kids and she invited me." Finn explained. "It was _so _cool, I've never been to a circus before." He was such a kid sometimes. "There was this one thing that a monkey did and it was so hilarious and then the—"

"Y-you spent the entire day at the circus with Rachel?" Hannah interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"And Madie, Ava, and Braylon." Finn nodded.

Hannah mumbled something, shaking her head slightly. She took a deep breath and smiled up at her boyfriend. "You want to go and grab something to eat?"

"I actually just ate. I'll cook you something though. Wanna come up?"

"Sure." She said, bitterly.

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><p><strong>Please leave a review! :)<strong>


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello :) Here is Chapter 3! I Hope you enjoy. Also, for those of you concerned that the story line was too fast, it shouldn't always be like that. It is like that in the first couple of chapters because I am just trying to show you the growth of Finn and Rachel's friendship over the span of a few weeks. This chapter is more best friend Finchel and lots of cute Finn and Madie and Ava moments. And if you haven't noticed, I am trying to update every Sunday. No promises though. Self beta'd, all mistakes are mine. I do not own Glee or the characters.**

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><p>When the day of the party came, Finn, Kurt and Blaine arrived early as planned and were helping Rachel set up down by the pool. Rachel recruited Taryn, her babysitter, to help watch all of the kids and help set up. They had everything set up and decorated within an hour and the guests started filing in one by one. The kids quickly stripped down to just their swim suits and Rachel snapped a picture of her two girls in their matching purple bikini's. Rachel introduced all of the people that arrived to Finn and was thrilled to see him talking and laughing with some of the dad's. All of the moms and Kurt were on one side of the pool chatting, all of the dads were all by the grill talking as Finn and Blaine grilled, and all of the kids were splashing around in the pool with Taryn and her friend watching them and playing with them.<p>

"Is that Frankenteen I see?" Santana asked as she entered through the gate with her family.

Finn laughed and said, "It's nice to see you too Satan."

She rolled her eyes playfully and pulled him into a hug.

"Hey Brittany. It's good to see you." Finn said.

She didn't reply, but instead hugged him.

"So are these your kids?"

"Yep, this is Maddox and Hadley. They are six. Going into the 1st grade." Santana proudly introduced.

"Hey guys!" Finn greeted. Santana told them to go play and the four friends all sat down at a table to catch up.

30 minutes later, Blaine was done with the burgers and veggie burgers and everyone lined up at the tables. After everyone was done eating Rachel gathered all of the 9 little kids up for a picture. Next all the adults lined up and took a picture. Rachel was quick to post both of them, along with the picture of the girls in their new swim suits, on Twitter with the caption: 'End of Summer Pool Party!'

Most of the kids stayed out of the pool and instead were playing some odd game with all of the beach balls in the grass area right outside of the pool area. Taryn was watching all of them, so some of the adults decided to get in the pool, including Rachel. She slowly removed her white tank top and small jean shorts to reveal her fit body underneath, only covered by a small black bikini. Finn did a double take when he saw her and could _not _for the life of him take his eyes off of her. He silently chastised himself, repeating to himself that he has a girlfriend. She slowly made her way over to the steps of the pool and waded her way in. After she got fully in, Finn excused himself from the group of men he was talking to, quickly took his shirt off and ran and jumped in right next to where Rachel was standing. She screamed loudly and squealed when he grabbed her from under water and spun her around. She could not stop laughing and she was starting to fight back. They were in the center of the pool, wrestling and every single eye was on them. Soon enough they realized all the stares they were getting and stopped and acted as if nothing happened. Rachel froze next to him and kept her eyes on the water.

"Rach? You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm gonna get out."

"Why? You just got in!"

"I, um… I have to use the restroom." She swam over the step and quickly got out, grabbing a towel and leaving through the gate. Finn stayed in the pool and talked with some of the other guys, keeping an eye out for Rachel. When she finally did get back, it felt like she was avoiding him. If he was in the pool, she was at the tables, if he was by the gate, she was in the pool. She wouldn't even look at him. He let it go for a while, putting it up to paranoia, but when Kurt commented on it, he knew he wasn't crazy. He let her have her space for a while before he had enough and trapped her in a corner.

"Rachel." Finn said.

Rachel looked everywhere but at him.

"_Rachel. _Look at me."

She finally glanced up at him. "What?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not." Rachel said in a small voice.

"Yes you are. Did I do something wrong?"

Rachel looked around at everyone nearby and then shrugged. "Look, I have to go—"

"Rachel, you can't just blow me off! Talk to me!"

Rachel moved to the side and sat down in a nearby chair. Finn followed suit and looked at her expectantly. "Do you remember all those summers we used to spend together? Having parties just like this one, hanging out, and messing around in the pool."

Finn smiled a little bit and nodded. "Yeah, those were some pretty good times."

"Just a few minutes ago, when you attacked me in the pool, it reminded me of those times."

"So why is that bad?" Finn wondered.

"It just scares me a little. That we can get together like this and it's like we are in high school again. But then I remember that it's been ten years and you have an entire life that I don't know about."

"You didn't miss much." Finn chuckled. "I've pretty much told you everything."

"I should have kept in touch."

"It's not your fault. Neither of us really made the effort…"

Rachel nodded. "I mean I know you're the same old Finn, but now you're Finn with a job, and responsibilities, and a girlfriend, and lots of other things. Plus you don't really know my life either. At first I thought that someone new entering my life would be complicated for me right now, but then I realized that us entering your life would be worse. You don't need a single mother of two little girls hanging around while you're trying to get a new life started. That's not fair to you."

"Whoa, whoa, Rach! Slow down. First of all I would love nothing more for you and the girls to be a part of my life. You're not dragging me down in any way possible, believe me. And also, I wouldn't worry about the ten years that we spent apart. I'm not going anywhere so we have all the time in the world to catch up and get to know each other again."

"Yeah, I guess we do." Rachel gave a small smile, after considering what he had said. "I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you again these past couple of weeks. At the circus last week, it felt like we had never been apart. You know? It was so fun and… _comfortable._"

"I know exactly what you mean." Finn smiled. "It's kind of really awesome that we can do that. I thought it would be awkward when we finally met up again. I'm glad it isn't."

Rachel nodded and they sat in silence for a while, enjoying the atmosphere.

"So, I saw the pictures of us online." Finn spoke up.

Rachel's eyes widened. "Oh my god, I am so sorry. I should have known that would happen."

"Nah, it's cool. Actually, Hannah saw them and went a little crazy at first. Don't worry—its cool now, she was just a little shocked to see paparazzi pictures of me." He chuckled. "But I didn't even see any paps at the circus."

"They are very sneaky." Rachel agreed.

"Does it ever get annoying?"

"I'm not famous enough for it to be annoying. Like I'll see a couple paps every once and a while and I get stopped for autographs sometimes, but it's not enough to be annoying. And usually when they do stories about me, it's only on . I've only ever made it to big gossip websites and magazines a couple times, like when Kyle and I got divorced or when the girls were born."

Finn nodded. "That makes sense. Believe it or not it actually made me really happy to see the pictures and the paparazzi."

Rachel scrunched her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because, you're like an actual celebrity. And you have people sneakily taking pictures of you. You really made it big time and I am so beyond proud of you. You're a star." He said in a dramatic voice.

Rachel blushed and nudged Finn a little bit. "Thank you, Finn. You're too kind."

"You're welcome, Rach."

They both sighed and looked over to the kids. "Madie and Ava are really great kids." Finn smiled.

"They really like you." Rachel said.

"They do? Well that's good."

Rachel nodded. "It makes me happy to see them so comfortable around you after just a couple weeks. They are usually pretty shy around people they don't really know, especially Ava. She usually never lets anyone new hold her until she has been around them a lot. She must really like you."

"I guess they just sense how much you like me, and of course they have to do everything just like you, so they like me too." Finn joked.

"Oh really?" Rachel laughed.

"Really."

They made their way back into the water, making their way around the pool and chatting with various people. They ended up on a step together, talking amongst themselves.

"So why New York?" Rachel asked.

"Huh?"

"Why did you decide to come all the way to New York to be a teacher? I mean, you said that you taught in Ohio for a year before coming here, so what made you decide to leave?"

Finn sighed. "After I graduated with my master's, I moved back to Lima. I started helping Mr. Schue out with the current glee club and he helped me out with getting a job at the elementary school in Lima. Like I said, I loved it. Teaching is awesome, but I wanted—no, _needed _to get out of Lima. I mean, you understand. You felt the same need. I had been there all my life and I needed to continue going forwards, not go backwards. I didn't want to just continue teaching in Columbus or Lima. I could have done that without my master's. I needed a big change. So, Mr. Schue found a job for me in Brooklyn, which required a master's, and I couldn't say no. And I took this job in Manhattan because it pays better, since it's a private school. Plus Kurt is back and I'm closer to him. I mean I had every intention of coming here someday. Two of my favorite people in the world live here."

Rachel looked over at Finn with wide eyes.

"Santana and Brittany." Finn joked.

Rachel smiled and splashed him hard with water.

* * *

><p>It was Saturday morning, and Madie came into Rachel's room and jumped on the bed begging her to wake up because it was recital day. Rachel laughed grabbing her daughter and causing her to fall on the bed next to her.<p>

"Nah, I don't think that we're gonna go today." Rachel said yawning.

Madie immediately sat up and looked at her. "Wait, what do you mean? We have to go!" Madie protested.

Rachel shook her head and said, "No, I don't really feel like it."

"But-But…Why?" Madie whispered.

"Madie! I'm kidding! _Of Course _we're going!" Rachel laughed. "I didn't think you would give up so easily."

"Hey! That was totally not cool! I actually thought you were being serious!" Madie smiled.

Rachel giggled and got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. Once she was out they went to get Ava out of her crib and then went downstairs so Rachel could make breakfast while Madie practiced her dances on the kitchen floor, Ava watching in amazement. They ate breakfast and then Rachel trotted up the stairs and grabbed her phone. She dialed a number and plopped down on her bed.

"Hello?" Finn answered.

"Hey Finny!"

"Oh hey, Rach. What's up?" He chuckled at his old nickname.

"I was calling to ask if you were still coming to the girl's recital today."

"Of course! Wouldn't miss it. It's at 12 right?"

Rachel smiled and nodded, but then remembered that he couldn't see her. "Yes. You know where it's at?"

"Right around the block from your apartment right?"

"Correct."

"And then afterwards, you guys are just coming with me to meet-the-teacher?"

"Yes."

"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but guess what?" Rachel could hear the smile in Finn's voice.

"What?" Rachel stood up.

"I got my class roll this morning."

"And…" Rachel began to get excited.

"There is this little adorable girl named Madilyn Barbara Berry on there, and I heard she's really great."

"No way!?"

"Yes way." He laughed.

"Finn, that is so great!"

"I know! And I have Braylon too."

"Really?! Oh, I have to go tell Madie."

"Okay, but you guys are still gonna come up to the school right?"

"Of course."

"Great. I'll see you in a couple hours."

"Okay… Thank you. Bye Finny."

"Bye Rach." Finn chuckled.

She hung up the phone and went to tell Madie about her new teacher. Madie squealed much like Rachel did and said that she wanted school to start "_right now."_

"We gotta get through this recital first." Rachel smiled and kissed her daughter's head and went into her bathroom to begin getting ready. She put on a decent amount of makeup, curled her hair, and got into a casual black dress that went down to her mid-thigh. She slipped on a pair of black heels, then went to help Madie get ready. She had to be at the theater, completely dressed and ready at 11:30. Rachel helped her change into her costume, then pulled her hair back into a slick bun on top of her head. After that, she put some eye makeup on Madie (It was required). First a dark sparkly eye shadow, some heavy blush, and then some mascara. At 11:00 they began walking around the corner to the Studio/Theater. When they arrived, Madie took off her warm-ups, slipped on her dance shoes, and Rachel put bright red lipstick on her lips. Rachel gave her daughter a big hug and went around to the front to wait for Finn.

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><p>After Finn hung up with Rachel he got himself ready in a nice pair of dark jeans, a navy blue quarter sleeve button up, and some Varvatos boots. He left the apartment and smiled and waved at various people that he knew. As he entered the lobby, he ran into Hannah, who was on her way to work. He gave her a quick hug, kissing her head.<p>

"Where are you off to, handsome?"

"Dance recital." Finn smiled, smoothing out his shirt.

"What?" Hannah laughed. "Who do you know that is in a dance recital?"

"Rachel's daughter."

"Oh." Hannah stopped. "Have fun then."

"Thanks. Have a good day at work. I'll call you after I'm done meeting all of my students later and we can have dinner?"

"Okay." Hannah smiled. "That sounds great."

And with that he walked away, shouting an 'I love you' behind him. On the way, he stopped at a small flower shop and got Madie a small bouquet of pink roses. He arrived and saw Rachel waiting near the door. As he got closer, he realized what she was wearing and couldn't stop staring.

"Finn! Are those for the Madie?" Rachel cooed looking at the flowers.

"Uh, y-yeah."

"That was very sweet of you. Thank you for coming. She is really excited."

Finn smiled and said, "Rach, you look really great."

Rachel blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself."

He smiled his lopsided grin and then opened the door for her to enter. As Rachel walked inside she saw two people that she recognized standing by a small sign in table.

"Oh _shit._" Rachel whispered.

"What's wrong?" Finn asked looking around.

Rachel pointed at the couple and said, "That's my ex mother and father-in-law. I forgot that I invited them."

"What? I didn't know that they were involved." Finn whispered.

"Yeah, they went to court so they could get visitation rights to the girls. It's not ideal, but there is nothing I can do about it." She shook her head. "They are pretty judgmental and I apologize in advance for anything they might say or do." Rachel looked up at him.

Katherine and Harold noticed her standing near the door talking to a tall man, and made their way over.

"Rachel, honey! How are you?" Katherine asked, taking Ava out of her arms.

"I'm good Katherine. How are you?" Rachel asked leaning in for a hug.

"I'm doing great."

"Hello Harold. It's nice to see you." Rachel said sweetly, shaking his hand.

"You too Rachel." He smiled.

"And who is this?" Katherine asked looking at Finn.

"This is Finn. You remember Kurt, don't you? This is his brother." Rachel introduced.

"Ah yes. I think Kurt has mentioned you once or twice. I'm Katherine and this is Harold."

"Pleased to meet you." Finn said shaking their hands.

"Should we go sit down? The show should start soon." Kathy suggested.

"We need to wait for Kurt. He's on his way." Rachel said.

"Should I go buy tickets first?" Finn asked.

"Nope. I've got them right here." Rachel said as she pulled two tickets out of her purse.

"Rachel Barbara, you have got to stop doing that." Finn said, laughing.

Rachel wiggled her eyebrows and waved the tickets around with a smirk on her face. "Never." She said.

Kurt came walking in minutes later and Rachel turned and walked towards the doors that led to the auditorium.

Finn sighed and followed her as she led the way. He caught up to her and said, "Come on. I feel really bad with you paying for everything."

"Finn Hudson don't get your panties in a wad. I don't want your money. Plus we are the ones who keep inviting you to come with us, so it would be rude to invite you and make you pay. And the line was long and I didn't want you to be late." Rachel whispered as they found some seats.

Finn sighed and said, "Fine, but let me take you girls to lunch or something afterwards, before we go to the school."

"Deal." Rachel said.

Rachel sat between Finn and Katherine and every time Rachel looked over at Kathy she was staring at Finn. Rachel rolled her eyes and didn't look at her for the rest of the show.

The groups were the first to go. After several numbers, Madie's group went (they were amazing) then it was time for solos. Rachel started crying like 20 seconds into Madie's dance. It was so beautiful and she didn't miss a step. Finn patted her knee for comfort and Rachel took it upon herself to grab his hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing. When Rachel noticed Katherine's glare, she rolled her eyes again and opted to keep ahold of his hand for the rest of the recital.

After it was over, they all walked backstage to where the girls were waiting. Madie spotted them and came running. Rachel bent down and picked her up, spinning her around.

"You did so well! You were amazing!" Rachel screamed. "Mommy is so proud of you."

Madie laughed and said thank you and moved on to hug everyone else.

"You were terrific! I'm so glad that I was here to see that! Your father would have been so proud!"

The smiles on everyone's faces automatically faltered. Rachel turned to Katherine wide eyed. It's not the fact that she said it that caught everyone off guard, it's the fact that she said it in front of the girls, especially Madie. She turned away from Kathy and looked over at Finn who was staring at the ground. She slowly looked back to Katherine and said, "Seriously, Katherine?"

"I'm sorry, but it's true. He loved to watch her dance. He will just have to watch through the video I got."

Rachel clenched her fists. "I distinctly remembering him _discouraging_ her when it came to dancing, and—" Rachel paused, not wanting to get into this. "You know what? Never mind, it doesn't matter." She looked down at her daughter to check her response. Thankfully, Madie was quite unaffected. Rachel sent a glare Katherine's way.

It was silent for a while until Rachel said, "Who's ready to go?"

"I am! I'm hungry!" Madie said.

"You're in luck. Finn is going to take us to lunch before we go find out who your teacher is. Sound good?" Rachel smiled.

Before Madie could respond Katherine stepped in. "Wait, you're all going to lunch? Mind if we tag along? I could eat."

Rachel looked over at Finn who just shrugged.

"Uh sure. You guys can come."

"Do you want to come Kurt?" Finn asked.

"I would love to." He smiled.

"Alright where should we eat?" Kathy asked.

"There is a small little diner about 10 minutes from here that is _delicious._" Rachel said.

"Okay! Should we all take my car? There is plenty of room!" Katherine offered.

"Um." Rachel said unsure. "It would just be easier for us to go ahead and ride with Finn. We have to go to the school after this and Finn and Kurt have their cars here."

"No!" Katherine responded quickly. "It will be no problem. I have car seats and everything."

"Okay." Rachel shrugged towards Finn.

"Wait we need pictures first!" Rachel said. She found a bystander and asked him kindly if he could take their picture. After all of them took one, Rachel took one of just Madie, then one of the girls with their grandparents, then Katherine unwillingly took one of Rachel, Finn, and the kids. Before they left, she uploaded the one of just Madie on twitter with the caption: 'Madie did SO amazing today in her dance recital! So proud!'

The eight of them piled slowly in the car. Harold and Katherine got the front seats, Rachel, Finn and Ava got the middle seats, and Bray, Madie, and Kurt climbed in the very back.

After the two youngest and Kurt climbed in the back, Finn got in on one side and Rachel started climbing in the sit in the middle after she buckled Ava in her car seat.

"Oh honey why don't you let Kurt take the middle and you can sit in the back." Katherine suggested.

"I can fit." Rachel stated and sat down right up against Finn.

Braylon and Madie were babbling away in the back, Kurt was on his phone, and Rachel and Finn were talking quietly amongst themselves. Finn whispered something in her ear, causing her to laugh, which caused Katherine to turn around. They both smiled innocently at her as if they were children. Once she turned back around Rachel looked down towards Finn's hands in his lap and noticed a scar.

"What happened?" Rachel asked grabbing his hand.

He looked down to see what she was talking about and said, "A long time ago, Puck decided to get this ginormous dog and one day while we were out walking it, his leash got tangled up in my legs and I fell onto a glass bottle."

Rachel laughed loudly and ran her thumb over the scar.

"Hey! It hurt!"

Rachel laughed louder and Katherine turned around again, this time noticing her hand in his.

"You never have been the most graceful person on this planet." Rachel snickered.

"Who's Puck?" Madie asked with a confused face.

"A Neanderthal." Kurt said rolling his eyes.

"He's a friend from high school. He was Finn's best friend." Rachel laughed.

"Was his name really Puck?" She asked.

"No, his name is Noah Puckerman. But everyone called him Puck."

"Oh. That's weird." Madie said.

Rachel laughed at this and turned back to Finn, slowly letting go of his hand.

"Do you remember when you broke my nose?" Rachel giggled.

"You broke my mommy's nose!?" Madie exclaimed.

"It was an accident! I've never been the best dancer." He chuckled.

"I can teach you!" Madie bounced. "I mean did you see me dancing a few minutes ago? I'm good enough to teach somebody, right?"

"You were perfect. I can't wait to learn from you." Finn smiled.

Katherine sighed loudly from the passenger seat.

Everyone was silent as they looked over their menus. Every once and a while Katherine would glance up and look at Rachel. After everyone had ordered, the kids were chatting away about some T.V. show and the adults were all just looking at each other.

"So how old are you Finn?" Katherine asked.

"28."

"And you're from Iowa, like Rachel and Kurt?"

"Actually it's Ohio. But yes."

"Whatever." Katherine said. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a teacher."

"Oh. Well that's nice. Good pay?" Katherine intruded.

"Uh yeah... Pretty good. Good enough for me to be able to live in Manhattan." Finn said awkwardly.

She nodded and Finn glanced over at Rachel. For some reason he felt like he was being interrogated by his girlfriend's parents.

"So is that why you moved here?"

"Yes ma'am." Finn replied.

"Why couldn't you just pursue that from Oregon?"

"I was a teacher in _Ohio _but I wanted something bigger and different."

After that she was silent and Finn started taking a sip of his drink.

"So are you married Finn?"

He quickly swallowed. "No. I'm not."

"Same circumstances as Rachel?" She asked very kindly.

"No, I've never been married." Finn said quietly.

"Well that's too bad." Katherine said sweetly. "Are you gay?"

Finn and Kurt both chuckled. "No, I'm straight."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes ma'am." Finn glanced at Rachel.

"Do you want kids someday?"

"Absolutely. I'm a kindergarten teacher. I love kids." Finn smirked.

"So if you are a teacher, you've been to college?"

"I went to Ohio State. I have my master's."

"Are Madie or Braylon in your class?" Katherine asked.

Finn shrugged. "We find out today."

Katherine nodded and stayed silent for a while.

"You ever been arrested?" She spoke up after a while.

Finn chuckled. "No ma'am, never been to jail."

"How many girlfriends have you had?"

Finn quirked an eyebrow and looked over at Rachel. "Uh…"

"From high school on. Don't include all of the girls you humped in dumped in College. Just serious relationships."

"_Katherine._" Rachel stressed.

"What?" Katherine asked as if she had done nothing wrong.

"I've had 4 serious girlfriends in my entire life." Finn nodded, proud of himself. "And I wasn't really the type to sleep around in college. I left that up to my best friend."

Rachel smiled.

"Only four? What are all of their names?"

Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Katherine, why does that matter?" Rachel asked, annoyed.

Katherine shrugged. "I just wanted to know."

Rachel knew what Katherine was getting at. She wanted confirmation that she and Finn had dated before or find out if they were dating now. Katherine looked at Finn expectantly.

"Uh, my first girlfriend was Quinn, then…" Finn looked over at Rachel. "Then Rachel, then my college girlfriend Rose, and now Hannah." Finn gulped.

"Hannah?" Katherine perked up a bit. "Where is Hannah now?"

"She's working."

Katherine nodded, looking pleased with herself but at the same time even more stressed out.

Finn nodded and then their food came surprisingly fast. They all silently ate and Finn paid for everybody when they were done.

"Thank you Finn. That was very kind of you." Harold smiled, these being some of the only words Finn heard him speak.

"No problem sir."

As they were leaving Katherine asked, "Are the girls still coming home with us? You have a show tonight, correct?"

"I do have a show, but I need to take Madie to her Meet-The-Teacher event at the school. I'll bring her by after we're finished."

"You want us to drop you off at the school then?" Katherine asked.

"No, I'll take them." Finn said.

Katherine nodded and stuck a CD in the radio. Seconds later Paradise by the Dashboard Lights by Meatloaf came on. Kurt, Finn, and Rachel all looked at each other.

"Wow, I haven't heard this song since Nationals." Finn said with a huge smile.

Katherine looked back in wonder and Rachel said, "We won nationals in Show Choir with this song."

"You were in glee with mommy and Uncle Kurt?" Madie asked to Finn.

"Sure was." Finn smiled.

"And Uncle Blaine and Aunt Santi and Aunt Britt?"

"Mmhmm."

"So you can sing?" Madie asked.

"He's the best singer ever!" Braylon said, remembering how his uncle has sung for him before.

"Well I don't know about that, but yes I do some singing." Finn laughed.

"He was the male lead." Rachel smiled.

"Didn't you tell me that you dated the male lead of the glee club for most of high school? You told me a bedtime story about him and his name was Prince Flynn." Madie wondered.

Katherine's head swung around to look at them and Kurt let out a loud laugh.

Finn looked out the window trying not to laugh, scratching his head.

Rachel quickly responded with, "Um, yes Madie. Thank you for bringing that up."

"You're welcome." Madie said, clearly not understanding her sarcasm. Rachel had a love-hate relationship with Madie's incredible memory.

Finn started quietly laughing and Rachel hit him on the arm. He nudged her back, then she nudged back even harder. Soon enough they were in a full-fledged war of arm bumping, and hand wrestling. Then he started tickling her and Kurt watched them, shaking his head. Katherine turned around and glared at them. When they noticed, they immediately stopped, but Finn kept his hand around her waist. Harold pulled up right behind Finn's car and they all got out. As they approached Finn's car, he stopped Rachel. "Oh! I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you, Rach." Finn smiled.

Rachel raised her eyebrows and watched as Finn opened the back door. He pointed inside and Rachel poked her head in to see a brand new pink car seat strapped into the middle seat.

"Finn! You didn't have to do that!" Rachel smiled.

Finn shrugged. "Well, since I offered to be your official transportation, I figured that Ava should have a seat that she actually fits in. Plus I think she likes pink a lot more than that ugly brown color." He winked.

"Thank you Finn. That's very kind of you." Rachel laughed, turning towards Katherine who had a scowl on her face. Madie and Ava hugged their grandparents and then climbed into Finn's car. Rachel told them goodbye as well and then climbed into the passenger seat where Finn was waiting with the door open. He shut it after her and then waved to the older couple and Kurt.

"He's a nice boy. I like him." Harold said watching them drive away.

Katherine rolled her eyes and got back in the car.

"What?" Harold asked.

* * *

><p>Rachel sat, spinning around in Finn's desk chair while he set up for Meet-the-teacher. Finn gave Kurt the paperwork he needed, then he left to go help Blaine at the store. Rachel got the paperwork, but opted to stay and wait for Finn. This way, she could even meet all of the parents and kids that would be in Madie's class. After everyone had come and gone, and Finn was getting everything ready to leave, a curly haired red-head came through the door.<p>

"Hey Claire." Finn waved casually.

"Did you get a good group of kids?"

"I got an amazing group of kids. There's one special one right over there." Finn pointed towards Madie who was standing next to her mother and Ava, who was perched in Rachel's lap.

"Oh, hello. I'm Mrs. Hall."

"I'm Rachel." She said, getting out from behind Finn's desk. She walked over next to Finn and he took a sleepy Ava from her, flinging his arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't know that you were married. Or that you had kids!" Mrs. Hall said.

"Oh—No! We're um, we aren't married." Finn choked, removing his arm.

"Just good friends." Rachel blushed.

"Oh, my apologies."

"It's cool."

"Wait—are you Rachel Berry? As in Fanny Brice?"

Rachel and Finn both smiled widely.

"That's me." She blushed.

"Oh my goodness! You're amazing! I saw your show just a couple weeks ago for the 2nd time. I _love _it."

"Thank you so much!"

"My pleasure." Claire smiled.

Finn laughed and pulled Rachel into him, showing her how proud he was of her. Just seeing someone recognize her like that made him extremely happy.

"Well I was just stopping by to see how your first meet-the-teacher went."

"It was good."

"Did you take a picture with all of the kids, like I said?"

"I did. Got them all on that camera."

"Good. Just give them to Nick and he will develop them for you."

"Why are you taking pictures with all of the kids?"

"I'm gonna hang up one copy of all of them around the classroom, and gonna put another copy in a frame that the kids will decorate during the first week."

"You didn't take a picture with Madie!" Rachel said.

"Let's take one now." Finn shrugged. He gave Rachel Ava and the camera that he had been using and swept Madie up off of her feet, causing her to giggle loudly. Rachel took a really cute picture where both of them were in the middle of laughing.

"Okay, we should get going now." Finn said. "I'll see you later Claire."

As soon as they got to his apartment, Finn placed a sleeping Ava on the couch and Madie made herself comfortable next to her and turned on SpongeBob. Finn and Rachel went into the Kitchen and Finn began to make coffee.

"So have you talked to anyone from school recently? I mean except from Kurt, Blaine, Santana, and Brittney." Rachel asked after minutes of comfortable silence.

"I saw Puck and Quinn a lot back in Columbus. They're married and have a baby girl, Ella. I saw Artie every once in a while. He got married and they have a little boy."

"Oh yeah! What's his wife's name?" Rachel asked.

"I believe her name is Kitty. And their son's name is Luke."

Rachel nodded and Finn continued, "I saw Mr. Schue a lot too, obviously. I even babysat their 3 little boys every once and a while."

"How well does Mrs. Pillsbury do with three boys?"

"Let's just say they are very clean boys." Finn laughed.

"I don't think I've seen anyone else though. I know that Mercedes lives in California and she and Sam are married. And Mike and Tina live in Florida. I have no idea why."

"I haven't talked to a lot of them in a while. I see their lives through twitter, and I sometimes even reply to their pictures and tweets, but I haven't spoken to a lot of them in a really long time. I talked to Tina and Mercedes a couple weeks ago on the phone. And I talked to Quinn a couple days ago. I try to keep in touch with the girls."

"Don't we have a school reunion or something like that soon?"

"Oh yeah, I think we do!" Rachel remembered.

"Maybe we can go to that. It would actually be really fun." Finn said.

Rachel nodded in agreement and looked down at her coffee.

"Sorry about Katherine earlier. All the glaring and the weird questions. She's… very protective. Super protective of who the girls are around and stuff."

"What? Why?"

"She won't let go of the fact that Kyle is their father, but isn't their _dad_. She doesn't want me dating anyone and thinks that every guy I have around, I'm dating. She doesn't really want Madie and Aves to have a new father. She only wants Kyle to be their father. Like earlier this year, I went on a few dates and even had a boyfriend for a while and she just about had a heart attack when she found out. She freaked out and forbid me from dating anyone without her permission." Rachel said rolling her eyes.

"Can she do that?" Finn asked with a confused face, trying to ignore the part about her having a boyfriend.

"Absolutely not. I didn't listen to her. They are my children and I can have them around anyone that I want. I stood up to her and she backed down, and everything has been pretty good for the past month, probably because I haven't gone on any dates." Rachel said.

"Isn't that like… a little selfish of her?" Finn asked slowly.

"Very selfish of her. It's like she wants me to be alone forever."

"I'm sorry." Finn said.

"It's okay. She'll just have to get over it when I do start dating again. It's not really her decision."

Finn nodded in agreement. "Can I asked you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Does Kyle not have rights to the girls? I mean I've picked up on the fact that they never see him and he isn't really the best father, but you said earlier that Katherine and Harold went to court to get visitation rights and…"

"No, he doesn't. He got his rights taken away a couple months after the divorce. It's sad, he's never even met Ava. But it's his fault." Rachel said, bitterly.

"May I ask why?"

Rachel pursed her lips. "I'm afraid that's a story for another time."

Finn nodded, taking the hint. "How are Kathy and Harold allowed to see the girls though?"

"Well like I said, they went to court and did a whole bunch of stuff that enabled them to visitation rights. The girls are allowed to see them and spend the night with them when I say they can."

"Are you not worried about Kyle trying to get to the girls through them?" Finn asked, cautiously.

"I was in the beginning, but Kyle is living in Chicago with some tramp now and I like to believe that Katherine and Harold are smarter than that. I'm always a nervous wreck when the girls go over there, though. Looks like I won't be sleeping tonight."

Finn nodded.

Rachel shrugged. "So…" She began. "Tell me about this Hannah girl."

Finn whipped his head around and raised an eyebrow. "Well… what do you want to know?"

"You said you've been dating for about a year?"

Finn nodded slowly. "How did you meet her?"

"I met her at a grocery store in Brooklyn about a month after I moved here." He chuckled.

Rachel smiled. "So _tell _me about her." She egged on.

Finn sighed. "Well, she's a nurse, so she works _a lot _and she has all kinds of crazy shifts_. _She lives in the same building as me. She doesn't really have any special talents, like you, but she did play soccer for twelve years. She has lived here her whole life and she graduated from NYU. Um… I don't know. She's pretty, really sweet, motivating."

"She sounds great." Rachel smiled. "Brunette?"

Finn blushed and nodded.

Rachel smiled softly. "So if you've been dating for so long, then why didn't you just move in with her, instead of into an apartment in her building?"

"I'm afraid that's a story for another time." Finn joked.

"Touché." Rachel laughed. "I think we should go now. It's 5:00."

"Okay." Finn smiled.

"Are you sure that you want to take us? Finn, its 30 minutes away. It would be no trouble to take the bus. Plus we still have to go get their overnight bags." Rachel said.

"I'm taking you." Finn stated.

Rachel sighed and walked into the living room. "You ready to go to Nana's, Madie?" She whispered, not wanting to wake Ava up.

Madie looked up surprised at her mother. "No mommy! I don't wanna go! I want to stay here!" Madie whined.

"Mommy has a show and your Nana and Papa want to spend time with you."

"I already saw them today! I don't like spending the night there and Avie doesn't either! She always cries. I want to stay here!" Madie said on the verge of tears.

Rachel sighed a hopeless sigh. Madie was exactly like her mother when she wanted something. Before Rachel could respond, Finn stepped in. "I can watch them Rach. I mean, if that's okay with you. I can even take them back to your place if it makes you more comfortable and so that they can go to bed at a decent hour."

Rachel looked over at him, "Really Finn? You would do that?"

"Definitely." Finn said. "I will drive you to the theater and then we'll go to your apartment and hang out. Okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Rachel I'm positive. I want to."

She smiled weakly and said, "Okay, then that would be awesome. Is that okay, Madie?"

"Yeah!" Madie screamed, standing up, causing Ava to wake up. Finn lifted her off of the couch and handed her to Rachel.

"Okay. Are you sure?" Rachel winced.

"Yes." Finn chuckled.

"Okay then, let's go." Rachel smiled.

On the way, Rachel called Katherine (who wasn't happy at _all_) and gave him a spare key and told him to fix whatever easy thing he could find in the fridge if they get hungry.

"You can help yourself and just make yourself at home." Rachel rambled on as Finn just nodded. When they pulled up to the theater, Rachel thanked him profusely before saying goodbye to everyone.

Finn drove back to Rachel's apartment and followed Madie as she led the way up. He called Hannah, explaining why he couldn't make dinner and apologizing profusely. She wasn't too happy, but understood. At least he thinks she understood.

"What do you wanna do?" Finn asked after dinner was cleaned up.

Madie looked around and then looked towards the stairs.

"We could sing?" Madie suggested.

Finn pursed his lips and said, "Really?"

"Uh huh. We have a music room upstairs. I need to practice anyways. I have a lesson tomorrow." Madie informed.

"Uh, alright then. Show me the way."

They got off the couch and trotted up the stairs. Madie led them into the music room and sat down at the electric piano. Finn looked around and saw a grand piano, an electric piano, 3 microphones and stands that were hooked up to speakers, a huge stereo system complete with speakers in all four corners of the room, and some guitars hanging up on the wall.

"Holy crap." Finn said with his mouth hanging open. He should have known that Rachel would have a room in her house like this.

"I know right?" Madie said. "So what should we sing?"

"I want to hear just you sing first." Finn suggested.

Madie smiled widely and turned around to face the electric piano. She sat there thinking for a second, but then quickly sifted through the song book and started playing and then singing.

Finn was automatically impressed at the opening notes of O Holy Night on the keyboard. But when she started to sing, his jaw dropped. Her voice was _stunning. _She hit every note and didn't miss one key on the piano—and she is only five. She was definitely the most talented little girl that he has ever seen. He moved over to a chair on the side of the room and sat down with Ava curled up in his lap as he watched her in amazement.

Once she was finished with the song, she turned around in her seat and said, "So what did you think?"

Finn was speechless and couldn't find the words to say.

"Was it that bad?" Madie said starting to pout.

"Oh my god Madie no! That was amazing! I'm- I'm speechless. I didn't realize that you were that talented!" Finn finally spit out.

Madie smiled a huge smile. "Thank you! I've been working on that song for the past two months. I guess I finally got it down. My teacher is forcing me to learn Christmas songs, but won't tell me why." She said humbly.

"Well I thought it was perfect." Finn said.

Madie stood so that Finn could sit at the piano and then he pulled both girls into his lap. He started playing Don't Stop Believing and was surprised when Madie started singing along.

"You're really good." Madie smiled.

"So are you." He said, pressing a finger to her nose.

Several hours later, Ava was asleep in her crib and Madie was snuggled up against him on the couch, softly snoring. He carefully moved and picked her up, remembering Rachel telling him to put her to sleep in Rachel's bed. Finn walked across the bridge that led them to a pair of double doors that Finn could only guess was Rachel's room since it was separated from the rest of the bedrooms. He opened one of the doors and gently placed Madie onto the King sized bed that came off from the center of one of the walls. It had all-white comforter, sheets, and pillows on it, and several other small, soft looking blankets and pillows. On either side were bedside tables, each finished with a lamp and a picture and one with an alarm clock on it. Finn looked around from his spot in the middle of the room. It was very clean, and white, and very grown-up Rachel.

He kissed Madie on the head, turned out the lamp, and walked out of the room. A short while later, Finn heard the door knob rattling and then open and shut back again. Rachel quickly made her way into the living room.

"Hey Rach!" Finn whispered. "How was your show?" He asked getting up slowly.

"It was good!" Rachel responded. "How were the girls? I hope they didn't give you any trouble. Madie tends to fight me when it comes to bed time and Ava hates baths."

"They were perfect. Madie fell asleep while watching a movie, Ava was all giggles during her bath and we had tons of fun. Madie even sang for me."

"I got the picture you sent me. It made me smile. They looked adorable."

"Yeah, and Madie is wicked talented. I was speechless when she finished singing."

Rachel's smile got even wider. "Yeah, I'm pretty proud of her. She is _really _getting good for a five year old."

"I was amazed." Finn said.

"I am glad that she was good for you. I hope I wasn't out too late. I tried to hurry."

"Oh no Rach, you're fine! Madie is asleep in your bed, Ava in her crib, and I was just hanging out. No biggie."

"Okay, good. And I can't even begin to thank you enough. You are a life saver." Rachel said.

"Really Rach, it was no problem. Any time you need me to watch them, I'm here."

"Thank you, Finn. Really means a lot."

Finn smiled. "I should probably get home."

Rachel walked over to the door and turned around. "Okay, be safe getting home. Maybe text me to let me know you made it home?"

Finn chuckled at her cautiousness and said, "Will do. See you later Rach." He bent down and pulled her in to a deep hug. He closed his eyes and took in her sweet perfume before reluctantly letting go.

"Bye! Thank you!"

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><p><strong>Please Review! :)<strong>


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi! I'm so sorry that I didn't update this past Sunday, I have been super sick! But here you go :) Still no romantic Finchel :( I'm sorry, but they gotta be best friend Finchel, first! I hope you like this chapter! Self beta'd, all mistakes are my own. I don't own Glee or any of the characters. **

* * *

><p>Rachel and Finn were becoming best friends. They practically saw each other every day or at least talked every day. The Monday night dinners became Hudmel-Berry dinners, Finn started watching the girls a lot more, Rachel and Finn tried to have coffee together at least once a week, they developed new inside jokes, reminisced about High School all the time, and always talked about what each other has missed in the past years. Things were really great between them. Rachel still hadn't met Hannah though and Rachel pressed Finn about why they hadn't met yet almost every day. I mean, Kurt had even met her! They had already gone to lunch together twice. Finally, he gave in and set it up for them to have dinner at his place on a night that Rachel and Hannah were both available.<p>

Kurt and Rachel arrived together, both semi-dressed up for the occasion. Rachel was clad in a simple white dress with some casual heels for effect. Her hair was down and curly, her bangs hanging down at her forehead.

Kurt knocked lightly on the door. "Is it weird that I'm nervous?" Rachel whispered. Kurt raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes. You shouldn't be the one that is nervous." He replied.

"Oh? Who should be?"

"Finn or Hannah."

"Why?" Rachel asked, her voice raising above a whisper.

"Because it's not every day that a man and his current girlfriend have dinner with his ex-fiancé and new best friend. Hannah is going to think you're competition."

Rachel looked at Kurt wide-eyed as he knocked again.

"What?" He asked. "You haven't thought about that?"

"Well not until now. Thanks for that." Rachel said sarcastically as the door finally opened.

"Hey guys!" Finn smiled. "Everything okay?" He noticed the exasperated look on Rachel's face.

"Yeah." She gave him her best smile. "Can we come in?"

"Of course." He opened the door wider and let them walk in. "You look beautiful, as always." He whispered in Rachel's ear. She blushed and a genuine smile crept on her lips.

"Where's Hannah?" Kurt asked.

"She'll be down in a few minutes. Just got off work and wanted to shower and change."

They nodded and followed Finn into the kitchen. "Anything we can do to help?"

"Sure." Finn smiled. "Kurt, can you finish setting the table? And Rach, you can help me finish up with the desert. Vegan chocolate cake, just for you. But don't tell Hannah or she won't eat it. It can be our little secret." He winked at Rachel.

Kurt got to work in the other room while Rachel and Finn were icing the cake. "Finn, I swear to Barbra if you get _any _chocolate on my white dress I will make sure that you never see the end of this night."

Finn looked at her with wide eyes and a wicked smile. "Feisty Rachel." He raised up the utensil he was using.

"Finn… Don't you dare."

"C'mere." He smiled.

"No!" She screeched as she ran around the island and to the other side of the kitchen. He pretended like he was going to launch at her and laughed loudly when she squealed. "Don't you want to lick the spoon?"

"No! You'll get it all over me!"

"I promise I won't." He began to walk towards her and she began to step back. "You know you want it."

He finally did launch at her and she ran away from him, laughing loudly.

"What are you children doing?" Kurt asked when he walked back in the kitchen. They both stopped short. Finn accidentally dropped the chocolate covered spoon right to the floor, the chocolate splattering all over the place. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, "Is it on my dress?" She cried. Kurt inspected her carefully. "Nope, you're good. There is a little bit on your legs though." She breathed a sigh of relief and opened her eyes.

"Look what you did, Rachel!" Finn laughed, pointing to his shirt. It had a swipe of chocolate across the front. He swiftly took his shirt off in one motion.

"Me?!" Rachel exclaimed. "You're the one who dropped the spoon."

"I know, I'm kidding. But you're lucky that Kurt interrupted us, or else I _so _would have gotten you."

"And you _so _would have been dead." Rachel countered jokingly. She tiptoed away from the mess, grabbing a rag and getting it a little wet. She jumped up on the counter and sat down, beginning to wipe the chocolate from her legs.

There was a loud knock on the door and Rachel's laugh stopped abruptly. "That must be Hannah!"

"Kurt, will you get that? I gotta clean this up." Finn said as he ran towards the laundry room. He tossed his shirt in the hamper and came back into the kitchen. He grabbed a towel and bent down to the floor to pick up the spoon. When he turned back around, he saw Rachel sitting motionless on the counter, staring at him. She shook her head and looked away shyly, beginning to look interested in her legs. Finn looked down at his naked chest and smiled to himself, walking right by her to drop the spoon in the sink. As he bent down to wipe up the chocolate, Hannah walked in with Kurt.

Rachel looked up from her spot on the counter to look at the woman. Her jaw almost dropped. When Finn said she was pretty, she didn't think that he meant _gorgeous. _First of all she was super tall. Not quite as tall as Finn, but definitely up there. She had long brunette hair that was just a bit longer than Rachel's. She had bright green eyes that Rachel could see shining from across the kitchen. Her smile was picture perfect, with bright white shining teeth. Her nose was scrunched up with a smile as she walked in, freckles lightly dusted across the bridge of it. Her outfit was even perfect, especially for the kind of evening they were having.

"Hey guys!" Hannah's smile faltered a bit. "What are you doing?" She laughed.

"_Rachel _spilled some chocolate all over the floor and my shirt, so I'm cleaning it up." Finn smiled wickedly. Even with his back turned to her, he could just see her face.

"Hey!" She jumped down from the counter and threw the wet rag at him. "I did not! _You _dropped the spoon and managed to get it all over yourself!"

Finn wiped up the last bit and stood up laughing. "Whatever you say…"

"Finn!" She laughed.

"Okay, okay. I dropped the spoon and got it on my shirt."

"Damn right." She mumbled, loud enough for Finn to hear. He laughed as he threw the rags in the sink and guided Rachel to Hannah.

"Rachel, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is my best friend Rachel."

"Hello Hannah." Rachel smiled as she extended a hand out. "It's wonderful to _finally _meet you."

"I know, I can't believe we went this long without meeting! I mean, with the amount of times Finn has talked about you…" Hannah smiled.

"I've heard a lot about you as well." Rachel blushed. She dropped the woman's hand. "You're lucky that your boyfriend is even alive right now." She pointed.

Hannah laughed. "I guess I am." She gave Finn a hug and a quick peck. Rachel's eyes automatically dropped to the floor and she silently chastised herself for it.

"Why don't you all go sit down and I will grab a new shirt and bring the dinner out." Finn smirked, guiding them to the dining room. He was pleasantly surprised when he came back in with the plates to see all three of them already talking animatedly with big smiles on their faces.

Dinner went smoothly, with barely any silence in between conversations. Hannah was sweet and funny and even told Rachel that she loves Broadway and would love to see Funny Girl. She laughed along to all of the stories that were told about high school. The only time it was really silent was when Hannah found out about Finn and Rachel's past.

"So I knew that you all went to high school together, but I've never really heard about how the two of you became such great friends." Hannah brought up. "What's the story with you two?"

Nobody said anything for a few seconds, so Kurt spoke up. "These two were high school sweethearts." He let out a laugh and Finn slightly choked on his dinner. Rachel's cheeks burned red and she looked up to see a shocked look on Hannah's face. After a few seconds of silence, Finn spoke up. "I told you that, babe."

"Uh, no. You didn't tell me that."

"Oh. Well, yeah. Rach and I dated for most of high school." Finn and Rachel made eye contact for a split second.

"How serious?" Hannah wondered.

"Pretty damn serious." Kurt spoke. "Everyone swore that they would get married."

Finn kicked his brother underneath the table. Kurt got the hint and shut his mouth.

"Well that's really cute." Hannah forced a smile. "That is just so cute."

Rachel stared at Hannah and Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"We hadn't spoken in, what, ten years?" Rachel finally said. "And after we ran into each other at the park that one day, we caught up so quickly and became fast friends." She shrugged, trying to get the conversation away from high school.

"You seem great, Rachel. And so beautiful! I can't wait to get to know you more." Hannah said, her voice actually really genuine.

"Thank you! You're quite beautiful yourself." Rachel smiled.

"Okay, who wants desert?" Finn stood up, collecting the plates. "I'll help you, babe." Hannah stood with him and followed him into the kitchen.

Kurt let out a low whistle when they were both gone. "Well if I wasn't a target before, I surely am now." Rachel whispered.

"Oh hush." Kurt waved. "You're fine. She's nice!"

"She is very nice." Rachel nodded. "But that doesn't mean that she doesn't think I'm trying to steal her boyfriend!"

"Rachel, she doesn't think that. Calm down, you're just being overdramatic. Don't freak out unless she gives you a reason to."

Rachel took a deep breath and nodded. Finn and Hannah came back in with the cake slices. Finn handed Rachel hers, saying, "Be careful, Rach. Don't get any chocolate on your white dress." Rachel rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm.

After desert (Hannah didn't even notice a difference in the cake) they all made their way into the living room with some wine and beer. They sat on the couches, talking and laughing until it was almost 11:00.

"I probably need to get home and let the babysitter go." Rachel stood.

"Yeah, Blaine probably hasn't even put Braylon to bed yet. I should go too."

Hannah and Finn both stood, walking with Kurt and Rachel to the door. "Thank you guys. This was a very fun and much needed night." Rachel said. "It was very nice to finally meet you Hannah."

"You too, Rachel." Hannah leaned in and gave the smaller woman a hug. "We should go to lunch sometime!"

"That'd be great." She smiled.

Finn gave them each a quick hug, wishing them a good night and a safe drive home.

* * *

><p>It was now the first day of school and Rachel was standing outside of the school, gripping on to Madie's hand for dear life. She forced herself to smile down at the little girl, clad with her brand new backpack and lunch box. She snapped a couple pictures of her, before reluctantly leading her into the building and straight to Finn's room.<p>

There were several other parents in the room too, so Rachel figured it would be okay if she stayed for a few minutes. "Alright Mads, this is it. Are you ready?"

Madie nodded excitedly, eyes darting between different kids and things in the room.

"Are you scared?"

"Not at all!" Madie smiled. "I'm happy!"

"That's good baby. You'll do great. I'm so happy you're in Finn's class." Rachel said on the verge of tears.

"Mommy what's wrong? Don't cry! This is a happy day!"

"No baby it's okay. They are happy tears. I'm just so proud of you and excited for you. But at the same time, I'm a little sad that you are growing up so fast! You're my little baby!" Rachel said.

"It's okay mommy. You still have Ava." Madie said, causing Rachel to laugh.

While they were hugging, Madie spotted Finn walking towards them.

"Finn!" Madie screamed in Rachel's ear causing her to jump. Finn had agreed that Madie didn't have to call him Mr. Hudson if she didn't want to.

Madie backed out of their embrace and ran over to the tall man. Rachel stood up and followed.

"Hey Mads! You ready for your first day?" Finn asked, giving her a high-five.

"I'm _so _excited! But mommy's sad."

Finn looked over to Rachel and noticed her watery eyes through her smile.

"You okay?" Finn asked quietly.

Rachel looked up and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Finn smiled a weak smile.

"Okay Madie. Now, remember, just because we are friends with Finn does not mean that you get special treatment. Same with Braylon. You have to listen to everything he tells you and behave yourself. Got it? No diva demands." Rachel helped Madie place her backpack and lunch in the correct place and watched as she ran to the other side of the room to play with Braylon, a tear falling down her cheek. Finn noticed, and pulled her into a tight hug. Rachel obliged and sunk her face into him, staining his shirt with tears. He understood and knew that there was nothing that he could really do, but to just be there for her. He rubbed her back and held her tight. Finn noticed the strange looks that he was getting from other parents, so he led Rachel out into the hallway. She calmed down a little bit and said, "Thank you Finn."

"It's no problem Rach."

"I'm sorry. It's just she's my little girl and it's sad that she's already in Kindergarten."

"No Rachel, don't apologize. I completely understand. You're actually not the first parent with tears this morning." Finn chuckled.

Rachel smiled weakly and nodded. "Have you comforted all the moms this way?" She giggled.

"No, just the special ones." Finn pulled her back in for one last hug. After a couple seconds he pulled away, not wanting it to become awkward. Rachel wiped the last bit of wetness off of her face.

"I think I'm okay for now." Rachel laughed. "Rehearsals should keep me distracted today."

Finn nodded. "You want me to give you a ride to the theater?"

"Finn, you have a class in there." Rachel pointed.

"Oh… right…" Finn said.

"Are you sure that I can trust my daughter with you?" Rachel joked.

Finn faked a gasp. "Rachel, are you doubting me?"

"I would never." Rachel laughed.

He smirked. "You gonna be okay? You can stay here until you go to rehearsals or something."

"No, I'll be okay. I don't need to be hanging around Madie all day on her very first day of school."

Finn nodded and pulled her in for one last hug. She hugged back, then they said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Rachel got through the day quite easily with the distractions of rehearsals. Her cast mates were awesome, and always made her feel better. As soon as rehearsals ended, she changed her clothes, whipped her wig off, and practically ran out the door. She got in a cab as quickly as she could, and headed towards the school. She jumped out of the taxi and made her way towards the playground of the school where the kids wait until parents come to get them. She looked around and spotted Madie and Braylon (of course they were together) running around chasing other kids their age. Rachel stood underneath a tree where she was sure that Madie would spot her. Rachel waved slightly as Madie noticed her standing there. Both her, and Braylon ran over towards her and Madie jumped into her mother's arms.

"Mommy!"

"Hi Mads! How was your first day?" Rachel asked squeezing her tight.

"It was the best day ever! We had so much fun and played all these games and I played with Braylon _all _day! And Finn is the best teacher _ever_."

"That's so cool! I'm glad you had a good day!" Rachel said putting her down.

"Hey guys!" Finn said as he walked up behind them. "Feeling better, Rach?"

"I am, thank you." She smiled, giving Finn a small hug. "Was Madie good today?"

"She was perfect. We had a really great day."

"I'm glad."

"Okay, do you girls want a ride home? I most likely won't take no for an answer." Finn smiled.

"Should we wait until Kurt comes for Bray?" Rachel asked.

"I'm gonna start watching Braylon every day after school until Blaine and Kurt get off of work."

"We would have to pick Ava up…" Rachel said, unsure.

"When has that ever been a problem? Who else is supposed to fill that pink car seat with little butterflies all over it?" Finn smiled.

* * *

><p>"Is everything okay, sweetie? You seem a little sad." Rachel asked gently, as she was putting her daughter to bed.<p>

Madie turned her head towards her mom and sat up a little bit. "I miss daddy. Why don't I have a daddy anymore?" She asked all of a sudden.

Rachel's expression quickly softened and she pulled her petite daughter onto her lap.

"Honey you do have a daddy. But…" Rachel struggled with what to say. Her daughter hasn't asked about her father in a while. How are you supposed to tell a five year old that their father is an awful person and doesn't even want to see her anymore? "But he's just not here anymore."

"Where did he go?"

"He lives in a place called Chicago."

"Why did he leave?"

Rachel let out a big sigh. "You know, honey, I'm not too sure. Some people just aren't into being a parent and aren't ready. It has nothing to do with you, it was a choice that he felt he had to make. But I am ready and I love nothing more than being your mommy."

Madie let out a big frustrated sigh. "Does he not love us? Daddies are supposed to love us." Her lip began wobbling.

Rachel's heart broke. "I'm sure he does, sweet pea. Just maybe not enough to stay and be a family with us."

"I want to see him." Madie cried. Rachel suddenly got angry at the damn bastard for making her do this to their daughter. "I know you do baby, but you can't."

"Why not? Did I do something wrong? Why doesn't he want to be a family with us?"

A tear escaped Rachel's eye. "Madie, you did absolutely nothing wrong. You are perfect and it's not your fault at all. It's his fault. He made some very poor choices and now he isn't allowed to see you."

"So that's it? I'm never going to have a daddy again?" Madie said getting frustrated again.

"One day, mommy will find another man and then I will marry that man and he will be like your daddy." Rachel said.

"_No, _I want _my _daddy back. I don't want a new one. Nobody can replace daddy." Madie started crying.

Rachel's heart broke. "Oh, honey. I didn't mean it like that. You're right, nobody can replace your birth father. But one day mommy will meet a super nice and funny and caring and handsome man that loves all of us very much. He won't be replacing your daddy at all, but he will play the role of him and maybe be even better. He will love you even more than your dad and take care of you and come to _all_ of your performances. Same with Avie. I need someone here to help me with my two favorite girls. Maybe I can even give you two girls a new brother or sister."

This seemed to satisfy Madie. "When will that be? I want a brother."

"I don't know. I have to make sure that I'm ready to move forward and then I will have to find the perfect guy. When I do, you will be the first to know about it." Rachel said touching a finger to her daughter's nose.

Madie smiled and nodded.

"Do you remember anything about your dad?" Rachel wondered.

Madie slightly nodded. "I kind of remember what he looks like. And I remember he worked a lot so he couldn't come to my dance recitals. But I don't remember much. Is that bad?" Rachel hated that one of the only things she remembers is that he worked a lot.

"No, sweetie! Not at all! You were still pretty young. You had only _just_ turned four when he went away."

Madie nodded again. "Avie doesn't know about any parts of him."

"No, she was still in mommy's tummy when it happened."

Madie nodded.

"What brought all of this on?" Rachel asked.

"People were talking about how they have both a mommy and a daddy today. And Sarah told me that it was weird that I only have a mommy and that you were opposed to have a mommy _and _a daddy."

"Who's Sarah?" Rachel asked, not bothering to correct Madie's grammar.

"She's my new friend. She's in my class."

"Well, Sarah was wrong. It's not weird. Lots of kids only have a mommy."

"And she told Braylon that it was weird that he had two daddies."

"That's not weird either." Rachel assured. "All families are different, but that doesn't make any of them less special."

Madie nodded and said, "Promise?"

"I promise."

"Hey mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Finn is nice. And funny, and caring, and you always say how handsome he is. Can he be our daddy?"

Rachel's jaw dropped. "Um…" She looked at an expectant Madie.

"I don't know honey..."

"Why not?"

"Well… it's more complicated than that. There is a lot of adult stuff that goes into finding a new husband. I'm not sure you would really understand."

Madie nodded. "Okay."

"You need to know that I love you and your sister more than anything in this entire universe. You two girls are my little miracles and we are just fine without your father. Right?"

Madie nodded.

"Any more questions?" Rachel asked, hoping that she was out of questions.

"Can I sleep with you?"

Rachel let out a sigh of relief. "Sure baby."

* * *

><p>"So Rach, I realized that I have yet to see your show. And I really think that should change. So I was thinking about buying tickets to see you next weekend. What do you think?" Finn asked with a charming smile.<p>

Rachel lit up. "Yes! That would be amazing! But don't buy tickets. They are crazy expensive. I can get you free front row ones. I'll get four and Hannah could come and maybe you wouldn't mind bringing the girls?"

"That would be perfect." Finn said. "But just three. Hannah is working next weekend."

They were at Kurt's house with Santana and Brittany, lounging around the living room and talking while all of the kids played upstairs.

Kurt, Blaine, and Brittany all shared the couch, Santana took the chair, and Finn and Rachel were forced to share the small loveseat. It was actually meant for one person, so they were practically on top of each other and Finn had no idea where to put his arms. One ended up around Rachel's shoulder, and the other was hanging off the arm of the sofa—they were quite cuddled into each other. Santana noticed this and said, "So are you two shacked up again or something?"

Both of their jaws dropped and all eyes went towards them.

"Um…No?" Rachel corrected and Finn shook his head. They looked at each other and noticed why they would ask that. Rachel didn't really care, because she was not about to move. She was quite comfortable.

"Finn has a girlfriend." Rachel laughed.

"Frankenteen has a girl, that's not Berry, fawning over him?"

"Shut up, Santana." Rachel retaliated.

After a couple mindless board and card games, Rachel announced that she should get going so Madie could make it to her music lesson.

"I'll give you guys a ride." Finn jumped up behind her and went upstairs to get the girls. Right after the door was shut behind them Santana said, "Wanna make a bet?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

"Okay, I bet that they will be dating again by Thanksgiving."

Everyone shared a smile, then Blaine said, "Christmas."

"Halloween." Said Brittany.

"I don't know... Finn really likes Hannah." Kurt spoke.

Everyone stared at him. "Oh come on, Hummel. It's Rachel and Finn. You _know _that they will end up boinking."

"I'll bet Valentine's day." Kurt finished.

"Alright whoever is right, then each of us owe that person $50." Santana said.

"Deal."

* * *

><p>"Why are you so dressed up?" Hannah asked when she saw his suit.<p>

"Because I wanted to look nice." Finn shrugged. "Don't people usually dress up for Broadway shows?"

Hannah shrugged, a pout forming on her face.

"I'm sorry babe. I know you want to go. It sucks that you have to work."

"I wish you would have told me about it sooner than this morning and I would have been able to take off."

"I'm sorry." Finn kissed the pout off of her face. "I'll take you some other time."

"Promise?"

"Promise." He kissed her again. If he was being honest, Finn had planned this so he could go see the show without Hannah. He knew it was a horrible thing to do, but this was something that he had dreamt of since high school and his dreams never included Hannah in them.

"Okay, I can't be late for my shift." She said, backing out of his embrace. "Bye." She pouted as he walked out of the apartment.

Before the show, Finn took the girls to a restaurant of Madie's choice. They got seated and all ordered. As they were waiting on their food Finn asked, "Are you comfortable with me? Like is it okay with me babysitting you and taking you different places, like right now, without your mother?"

"Yeah! I love it!" Madie wailed.

Finn laughed. "Are you sure? Be honest."

"I really like it! You're cool and nice and funny and I love hanging out with my teacher outside of school." She smiled.

"I don't ever want to make you uncomfortable." Finn said.

"You are really nice to me and mommy and Avie, and I'm used to you now. Plus Avie really really likes you and that's a good sign. She's usually very attached to mommy. Also, mommy always says so many good things about you."

Finn smiled. "Like what?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Like she always talks about you when you were littler and she shows me pictures and she talks about how much fun she has with you and how she loves hanging out with you and how nice you are and how handsome and…" Madie finally took a breath.

"I got it." Finn laughed. "She thinks I'm handsome?" He smirked.

Madie nodded. "Mhm."

They ate their food quickly, then made their way to the theater. Before they got there, he stopped at a flower shop and bought Rachel a dozen red roses. Rachel had told him exactly where to go when he got there, so he followed her instructions and it led him to a door with a big guard standing outside of it.

"Name please." The man said.

"Finn Hudson. I'm here to see Rachel Berry."

"Okay." The big man said as he opened the door. "Straight ahead, 7th door to your left."

"Thank you sir." Finn said as he ushered the kids forward. He found the door that had a big gold star on it that said 'Rachel Berry' in the middle of it and 'Fanny Brice' underneath that. He straightened his tie, then knocked. She quickly opened the door and looked Finn up and down.

"Mommy!" Madie said as she gave her a hug.

"Hey Madie!" She said, not taking her eyes off of Finn. "Wow Finn. You—you look really good." Rachel choked out. "You didn't have to dress up so much, but I do like your suit… a lot." She blushed.

"I know, but I wanted to! You don't look so bad yourself." He winked.

She looked down at herself. "Finn, I'm in sweats and a t-shirt."

"Yeah…" Finn chuckled. "But your hair and makeup look pretty."

Rachel rolled her eyes and invited him in. "Mommy, we got you flowers!" Madie shoved the roses toward her.

"Oh yeah, these are for you. For good luck." Finn said.

"Thank you so much! They are beautiful." Rachel beamed.

They weren't in the dressing room for long before a scrawny little man knocked on the door saying, "Mrs. Berry, it's time to get dressed."

"Okay, thank you." Rachel replied. She walked over to a small table and picked up two tickets.

"Here you go. They only gave me two since Ava is only seven months old. They wanted to save a seat for a person who will actually comprehend what is happening. She can just sit in your lap, and she should be entertained enough to not act up during the show, but if she does just give her some of these snacks or give her a bottle. She'll be just fine and might even fall asleep."

"Will do." Finn said.

Rachel led them to the door, and Finn gave her a hug. "Good luck." He whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her back.

All three of them were amazed the entire time. No one made a peep, not even Ava. Well, she did fall asleep, but still. Rachel found them as soon as she got on stage and gave them the tiniest of smiles, not really noticeable to anyone but Finn. The two hours and thirty minutes of the show were truly outstanding. Rachel didn't mess up once (obviously), and every single song was sang beautifully without missing a note. During intermission, Finn heard the people around them talking about how amazing the woman who played Fanny was, which made him smile. Finn hadn't actually heard her fully sing since high school and it brought him back so many memories. Especially when she sang Don't Rain on my Parade. It made him think about sectionals their sophomore year.

When it was over, the three of them, along with the rest of the audience, gave a standing ovation. As Rachel was bowing she looked at them again, and this time gave a huge smile and waved. That whole part of the audience waved back causing Rachel to laugh. Finn heard two people behind him arguing about who she waved at and he chuckled. When they made their way backstage again, the door was already open and he saw Rachel standing in front of her mirror. Finn ran towards her and picked her up and spun her around, careful of a now awake Ava.

"Rach, that was so amazing! You were so good! Wow, I have literally been waiting my whole life to see you play Fanny and it was better than I could ever have imagined!" He rambled on.

She laughed. "Really? You liked it!?"

"_Loved _it."

"You were really good mommy! And you looked really pretty!" Madie said.

Ava clapped excitedly in Rachel's arms and babbled some nonsense.

"Aw, thank you guys. You're the best." Rachel smiled.

"No, you're the best." A voice said from behind them. They all turned around to see a familiar, handsome man standing in the doorway.

Madie sighed loudly and Finn looked down to see an annoyed look on her little face.

"Hey Madie! How is my favorite little one?" The man said.

All Madie did was glare until Rachel nudged her. She looked up at him with a fake smile and through gritted teeth, she responded. "Good."

"Hi, I'm Jack." He said sticking out his hand to Finn.

"Finn." He said shaking the man's hand.

"He plays Nicky." Rachel put out.

"Oh. I really enjoyed the show." Finn smiled.

"I bet you did. So what are you doing here? How do you know my Rachie-poo?" Jack asked.

"Uh…" Finn started.

"This is my best friend. We've known each other since high school. He had yet to see me play Fanny so I got him tickets and he brought the girls."

Jack nodded tightly. "So why haven't I heard of you before if you two are 'best friends'?"

Rachel frowned.

"We just recently met up again."

Jack stared at Finn for a moment. "I see."

"Hey Jack, do you mind taking a picture of all of us?" Rachel asked, interrupting. Jack frowned at Finn.

Rachel passed Ava to Finn and she went to grab the roses he brought. He put his arm around Rachel's waist while Madie came and stood in front of them. Jack snapped the picture and then he made his way over Rachel and gave her the phone and then gave her a hug. "Good job tonight Rachie. Have a good rest of the night. I'll see you Tuesday. Love you!"

"You too, Jack." Rachel smiled.

He pulled back, pecked her on the lips, and turned away before he could see her reaction. Her eyes got wide and she tightened her lips. Finn raised his eyebrows and watched him walk towards the door.

"Nice to meet you Flint. Bye Madie. Bye Ava!" Jack said as he walked out the door.

"It's Finn…" Finn said quietly. After Jack left, Finn turned back to see a very confused Rachel.

"Is he gay?" Finn asked.

Rachel shook her head no.

"Well then I would say that he has a big crush on you. He's kind of a douche." Finn whispered, so Madie wouldn't hear him.

"He's never done that before. He always kisses me on the cheek or something, but never on the lips off stage. And he's never told me that he loves me either. And yes… at times he can be a _douche_ as you called it. He was being especially rude tonight. And if you didn't notice, Madie isn't very fond of him. Never has been."

"He seemed to be bit jealous of my being here." Finn theorized.

"Yeah that's what's weird about it. He's never showed any interest in me before."

Finn stuck his hand in his pocket and shrugged.

Rachel noticed Ava's head laying on Finn's shoulder and Madie starting to yawn and said, "It's really late. We should probably go."

Finn agreed silently and they all went out to the car. As soon as they got to the car, Rachel pulled out her phone and posted the picture that they just took on twitter with the caption: 'Thank you guys for coming to see me tonight! You're the best!'

There was, of course, loads of traffic. It took around ten minutes to get out of the parking garage, and now they were sitting still on the road and the girls had already fallen asleep.

"I think I figured out why Jack just now started acting like he had a huge crush on me."

Finn turned his head and raised his eyebrows to show he was listening.

"Well I thought a lot about it, and realized that there are some small things that he has done or said that shows that he has a crush. And I think that he was scared to act on his feelings, because of Kyle. He didn't know if it was too soon or not even though it has been over a year. He didn't know about the boyfriends that I had a couple months ago, but when he saw that you were here tonight he thought that maybe we are seeing each other and he figured that I was ready, and decided to start showing me his feelings before it got too late."

"Wow, you have thought a lot about it." Finn chuckled, deciding not to ask about the boyfriends that she had a couple months ago. It obviously hadn't gone well. "_Are_ you actually ready?"

She looked out the window and then down to her hands. "I don't think so. I'm not sure I'm ready for something serious." She said quietly. "A lot of shit has happened in the past year, not just things having to do with Kyle… just other things… I have trust issues and stuff."

Finn nodded his head. She clearly didn't want to talk about these other guys.

"Even if I were, I don't think that I would date him. I have never thought of him in that way. He's my stage husband and he will always just be my stage husband."

"That's understandable." Finn added.

"When do you think it would be appropriate for me to start dating seriously again? I don't want to be alone for the rest of my life and I need to find Madie and Ava a good fatherly figure. I know that it's been more than long enough and I need to start getting back out there, Kyle clearly hasn't had any trouble. Do you think it's bad that I still don't feel ready? I mean I thought that I was ready earlier this year, but those relationships didn't work at all and I feel like it has to do with me and my insanity. I haven't really tried since then."

"Of course it's not bad! Rachel, dating shouldn't be anyone else's decision but yours. Everyone is different with their 'dating after divorce' process. Whenever _you_ feel ready. And you are not insane, so don't ever say that." Finn said sweetly.

Rachel nodded her head and looked out the window. "I'm just so scared." Rachel whispered.

Finn looked over at her with a soft expression and gave her his hand to hold for comfort.

"Thank you, Finn." Rachel said looking at him. "For being such a great friend to me and the girls in the past weeks. Kurt's right, I don't have that many real friends in the city..."

"Rach, it's my pleasure. It has been really fun. I was honestly scared that I was going to have no friends or anyone to hang out with when I first moved here besides Kurt and Hannah. So I'm really glad that we met up."

Rachel looked back on twitter and started reading all of the replies that she had already.

_Who's the man? _

_That man is very handsome. Lucky girl. ;)_

_Is that your boyfriend?_

_Are you guys dating? He's handsome! Oh and btw you and Madie look gorgeous! And Ava is precious._

_I saw your show tonight and that man and your daughters sat right in front of me! _

_So pretty 3_

_Aww who is that?_

_Are they the same people from the circus? _

_Love it!_

_I was there tonight! You were AMAZING!_

_Aww Ava looks so happy perched in his arms :)_

She quickly got off of twitter and stepped out of the car as he pulled up to the curb in front of her building. He opened up the door for her and as soon as he shut it behind her, she wrapped her little arms around his back. She caught him off guard, so it took him a second before he hugged her back. She smiled shyly and pulled away. He picked up Madie and Ava started carrying them inside. He was such a gentleman. After he had placed the tiny five and seven month old into their beds, he followed Rachel downstairs and towards the front door.

"Bye Finn. Thank you for coming."

"You were amazing."

"Thank you. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see you then." He bent down and gave her a lung crushing hug, and walked slowly out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review! I should have a new chapter up this Sunday. :) <strong>


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Sorry, I know it's been a while! But, here you go! I hope you like it! Getting closer and closer to Finchel going beyond the friendship bounds ;) Self-betad, all mistakes are mine.**

* * *

><p>Rachel had been home alone with Ava all day long, and was excited to pick Madie up from school. She missed her daughter every day while she was at school, she was used to having her home when she didn't have to go to work. She went around to the playground like normal, and looked around for her. She spotted Braylon, but Madie was nowhere to be found. She waved Braylon over and he came as fast as he could.<p>

"Hey Bray! Do you know where Madie is?"

"Someone already came and picked her up." Braylon said.

Rachel started to panic at first, her mind immediately flying to Kyle. No, he couldn't have done this _again. _Rachel's heart was beating extremely fast and her hands were shaking, assuming the worst. She whipped her head around looking all around for any signs of him. Her grip on Ava was incredibly tight and a lump began to grow in her throat. Surely Kyle was smarter than that and wouldn't do this again, but then again it was _Kyle._

"Do you know who it was?" Rachel asked the little boy, her voice shaky. "Did you recognize the person?"

"It was her Nana." Braylon shrugged.

Rachel sighed, her hand over her chest. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She finally got her thoughts together and remembered that Katherine had told her about it last week. It was grandchildren day at the Senior Center and Katherine had asked to pick her up and take her. She wasn't going to be home until around 8:00.

Finn walked up to Rachel and grabbed her waist yelling, "Boo!"

Rachel screamed causing people to look over at them. She turned around and saw Finn doubled over laughing. "Finn Hudson! Don't do that! You scared me!"

He stood up, still laughing, and said, "I'm sorry, I had to."

Rachel let her nerves slip out of her and began laughing loudly. She hit Finn on the arm, and he flinched.

"What are you doing here? I just saw Katherine come and pick up Madie." Finn asked.

"I forgot that Kathy was picking her up today." Rachel winced. "She told me last week_. _I'm a terrible mother."

"You are not a terrible mother." Finn laughed. "Why did she pick her up, anyways?"

"It's grandchildren day at the senior center."

"Sounds like a blast." Finn said sarcastically. Rachel hit him on the arm again.

"Since you're already here, wanna hang out with us? I gotta drop Braylon off at baseball practice at five, then we can hang out."

"That sounds good. But can we go back to my place after we drop him off? I have to do some laundry. I wasted a lot of time doing nothing today."

"Oh, I got the video you sent me of Ava crawling! Must have watched it ten times. I even showed Madie." Finn smiled.

"I know, I was so happy! I can't believe little Avie is crawling now." Rachel bounced the baby in her arms. Finn stuck his hands out towards the little girl and she happily leaned towards him, raising her arms for him to pick her up. Rachel passed her over and watched Finn handle her gently.

"Next time you're bored, you should come hang out with us here. Madie would love it." He said as they were walking towards the car. "You could help me teach them all new songs."

While Finn was helping Braylon get into his uniform, there was a knock on the door. Finn asked for Rachel to answer it and she did, opening the door with a smile.

"Hi Hannah!" Rachel welcomed.

"Rachel! Hello, wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here?"

"Just hanging out with the boys."

"Boys?"

"Finn and Braylon. We were actually about to take Braylon to practice."

"Oh." Hannah frowned. "I guess I'll just come back later, then."

"Hey Han!" Finn grinned as he approached the door. Braylon walked up behind him, all dressed up in his baseball uniform. Finn picked up his bat bag and leaned down, giving Hannah a quick kiss. "We were just about to head out."

"Yeah, I heard."

"Uh, Hannah we are going back to my place after we drop him off. Would you like to come?" Rachel asked. She was trying to be nice but hoping she would say no. Alone time with her best friend is all Rachel wanted.

"That would be great!" Hannah smiled. "Thank you."

The trio dropped Braylon off, then went to Rachel's apartment. Rachel started some laundry while Finn and Hannah lounged on the couch. After everything was in the washer, she brought out some drinks and snacks. Finn and Hannah helped themselves while Rachel got down on the floor with Ava to try to show Finn how she can crawl. Ava managed to go a couple of feet, and they cheered and clapped for her, Finn videotaping every bit of it. Afterwards, Rachel quickly fed Ava some dinner and prepared her a bottle. Finn automatically took her from Rachel, settling down on the couch next to Hannah and feeding the baby. Rachel popped in a movie, and laid down in the open space on the couch. Once Ava had finished, he set her down in her play pen and sat back on the couch unconsciously pulling Rachel's feet into his lap, massaging them gently with the hand that wasn't occupied by Hannah's.

The movie proved to be boring about twenty minutes in and the three began to talk.

"So what do you think about go to see new SpongeBob movie this weekend?" Rachel asked, looking up at him through her thick eyelashes.

Finn looked at her and laughed.

"I know that it will be the best movie you've ever seen. No, but Madie has been talking about it nonstop and it comes out this weekend. I was going to take them and a couple other parents and kids will be there. I thought maybe you would like to go. You're watching Braylon this weekend, right? Kurt and Blaine have a thing with the store."

"That would be fun!"

"Okay, it's Saturday at 4:00."

"Mind if I tag along?" Hannah asked. To be honest, Rachel had forgotten she was even sitting there. She couldn't even see her behind Finn from her angle on the couch. "My niece is coming to visit this weekend and I'm sure she'd love it."

"Libby is coming this weekend?" Finn smiled as Hannah nodded.

"I don't mind a bit." Rachel smiled. "It'll be fun."

They were playing a heated board game (Rachel and Hannah were getting very competitive) when there was a knock on the door. Madie came running in the living room with Katherine slowly coming in behind her.

"Mads! Katherine! What are you guys doing home so early?" Rachel smiled giving her little girl a hug.

Katherine looked at Finn and Hannah sitting on the floor around the table, then back at Rachel. "I forgot that they had shortened the time because Bingo was rescheduled from last night to tonight. And there is only so much that the people in the Senior Center could handle of little kids running around screaming."

"Oh." Rachel smiled. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah! There were lots of other kids there and there was candy and games and we got to go outside and play!" Madie exclaimed.

"Did you have dinner?"

"Yeah, we had Pizza." Madie informed.

Rachel nodded. Finn and Hannah stood from the floor. "Oh, Kathy, this is Hannah."

"Hello darling." Katherine nodded. "What are you three up to?"

"I was actually just about to head out. My shift starts in a couple hours." Hannah spoke.

"Uh, do you want me to give you a ride?" Finn offered.

"No, I'll be just fine with taking a cab."

"You sure, babe? I don't mind."

"Finn, I'll be okay." She laughed. She stopped, giving Finn a quick kiss before she pretty much sprinted out of Rachel's condo and left Finn, Rachel, Katherine, and the girls standing there.

"Well thank you Katherine for bringing them home. I'll see you later." Rachel said, practically forcing her mother-in-law out of her apartment.

"Bye girls!" Katherine got out, before Rachel shut the door behind her.

"Madie, do you have homework?"

"Nope." Finn answered. "She just needs to make sure she gets her reading in for the week."

Rachel turned just in time to see Ava crawling down the hall, Finn running after her. He scooped her up in his arms, bringing her back into the living room. "She's a speedy little thing." Finn laughed.

"Mmm, great." Rachel rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna have to baby proof this place or something. I'm not ready for her to be all over the place. You hungry? I can make you something." Rachel suggested.

"How about I make something?" Finn said.

Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"Hey, I can cook. I just choose not to."

Rachel giggled. "Sure, Finn. Go ahead and get started and I'm going to give the girls a bath."

When she came back down, Rachel sat on the bar stool, watching Finn cook dinner for them with both of the girls perched on the counter beside him in their pajamas doing everything they could to help. Which, for Ava, mostly just consisted of banging a wooden spoon against the counter.

"So why won't you allow me to take a cab anymore, but you were perfectly fine with letting Hannah take one? I mean if something was going to happen to one of us, it would definitely be her."

Finn stopped what he was doing and turned towards Rachel. "Okay, one: You're both gorgeous, so don't even try to imply that she's better. And two, I wanted to stay here."

"Oh please, she's tall, she's brunette, and she's beautiful."

"True. And you're two out of those three things." He smirked.

"Exactly, I'm short."

"I like short girls." Finn shrugged making Rachel blush.

"I wanna do that!" Madie begged when she saw what Finn was doing.

"Okay, pour this in there." Finn pointed. She did as she was told and waited for her next instructions. "Now use this to mix it all up." He gave her a spoon and reached his arms around her to help her stir. Rachel pulled her phone out of her pocket and snapped a quick picture of the three. She posted it on twitter with the caption, 'My three best friends are cooking dinner for me :) So happy…3'

"Are you taking pictures of me?" Finn smiled.

"I might be." Rachel smirked.

"Send it to me."

"Already sent."

Finn finished cooking the vegetarian dinner, with his little helpers, and served it to Rachel. He watched as she took her first bite. "Oh my god! Finn, this is amazing! Why didn't I know that you could cook?"

"I have my secrets. And I had a buddy from college that taught me a few things." He smirked.

After dinner, Finn did the dishes while Rachel helped Madie and Ava get ready for bed. Madie came downstairs and asked if Finn would tuck her into bed. He followed her back up the stairs and into her light yellow room where Rachel was waiting. Madie jumped onto her bed and Finn and Rachel each took a seat on either side of her bed.

"Will you both sing me a song?" Madie asked.

Rachel looked up at Finn and then back at her daughter. "Uh, sure sweetheart. What song?"

"The one that was really loud on the radio that one time. I like that one."

Finn looked up at Rachel, flushed. "Faithfully?"

"That's the one." Rachel chuckled, nervously.

"Okay…"

Finn slowly began the song and Rachel stared at him contently, almost missing her lines. When they were both singing at the same time, they were staring into each other's eyes, completely unaware that Madie was laying right beneath them. When the song finished, Finn and Rachel were both breathing loudly and Madie was fast asleep. Neither of them realized that she had already fallen asleep. They sat in silence for a couple of moments before Rachel kissed Madie's head and stood up. Finn gave Madie a small kiss too, before following Rachel out of the little girl's room.

"Um, t-that was… fun. Haven't done that in a while." Rachel practically whispered while Finn was putting his jacket on.

"We should do that more often. I miss it. Y'know, sing together. Anything, anytime." Finn smiled.

"Definitely."

"Alright, well I guess I should go. It's getting late."

"Yeah. Thank you for keeping me company. And for dinner."

"No problem, Rach." Finn bent down and gave her one of his giant bear hugs.

"Text me when you get home." Rachel choked.

"Will do."

"Bye." Rachel blushed.

Finn was beginning to do something that he really _really _shouldn't do for a number of reasons. But how could he not? Rachel was so sweet and perfect and beautiful and bubbly and _god _Finn, you have a damn girlfriend. You can't feel this way towards a woman who isn't your girlfriend. But ever since Rachel has come back in his life, he has found himself wanting to spend all of his time with _her _and go out to dinner with and hang out with and babysit for and do everything with _her _and not with Hannah. God, he was an awful person. He needed to get himself together and stop doing and feeling whatever it was that he was feeling. But, it was beginning to be proven impossible. He needed to make a decision.

* * *

><p>After the day at the movies with everyone, Finn had gone to drop Hannah and her niece off and was now back at Rachel's place to babysit. When he knocked, one of his student's mother answered.<p>

"Oh! Hi Mrs. Smith. It's good to see you. And, Alyssa! You here playing with Madie?"

"Hello, Mr. Hudson. Yes, we were just leaving. Rachel is in her room." She informed before she disappeared through the front door with her daughter. Finn walked slowly up the stairs, and across the bridge to Rachel's door. "Rach?" Finn said, knocking on the door. She yelled for him to come in, so he cautiously opened the door and walked in. He found her standing in front of her mirror in her large bathroom, wearing tiny shorts and a tank top, putting on some makeup.

"Hey Finny." She said.

"Hey Rachie." He said. He sat down on the floor against the bed to play with Ava, where he had a clear shot of Rachel.

"Thank you again for babysitting tonight. I _hopefully _won't be gone too long. No later than 11:00 and _maybe _11:30." The whole cast of Funny Girl goes out together every month and that's where Rachel was headed tonight.

"It's no problem at all." Finn smiled. "What are you guys gonna do?"

"We usually go to dinner somewhere and then go to this karaoke bar called Rising Star. I don't drink, but it_ is_ fun to watch everyone else get drunk and try to sing."

"I would love to see you sing at a karaoke bar. The last time I heard you sing drunk was at that glee party that you had in your basement. And you had just gotten done making out with Blaine." Finn laughed.

"I'll have you know that I am a great singer when I'm drunk!"

"Oh really?" He joked. "Well if you do get drunk, make sure to get a video."

Rachel threw a towel at him and laughed. "I had a good time today. The movie wasn't the most annoying children's movie I've ever seen. And Libby is adorable."

"Yeah, she's a good kid. Hannah is so in love with her."

"She'd be a great mom." Rachel mentioned, casually. "And you would be an _amazing _father."

Finn smiled at her in thought.

Rachel caught Finn's eyes through the mirror and gave him a shy smile. "I'll be right back. I gotta go get dressed."

She disappeared through the double doors in the back of her bathroom. Finn got on his knees, patting his legs so that to get Ava to crawl towards him. She giggled up at him, crawling closer to him hand-by-hand, leg-by-leg. Ava finally reached him and he picked her up, throwing her up into the hair. The door to the closet opened and Finn back down against the bed, Ava in his lap. He heard her heels walk across the tiled floor, but he couldn't see her. She eventually walked out of the bathroom without looking at Finn and went straight to the jewelry box on her dresser. She was wearing a tight fitting black dress that went to her mid-thigh. It was sleeveless, and had a small black belt around her waist. It wasn't too sexy but not too casual, and it was perfect for the kind of night she was having. Finn sat back on his hands and raised one eyebrow, letting a smirk grow on his face. He carefully watched her dig through the jewelry box. Once she found a pair of earrings she turned around while putting one in her ear. She quickly noticed his stare and said, "What?"

"You look great, Rach." Finn said smiling. She blushed and moved onto the next earring.

"Thank you, Finn. Do you mind helping me with my necklace?"

He quickly got off the floor, gently setting Ava down, and shuffled over towards her. She handed him the necklace and moved her hair from her neck. Finn dropped the front of it on her chest slowly and then hooked it. He laid it down softly on her neck. When she felt his breath on her neck, it gave her chills and she quickly dropped her hair to hide the goose bumps. Rachel slowly turned around and whispered, "Thank you." Finn didn't respond but instead just stared kindly at her. Her eyes flickered from his eyes, to his lips, then to his chest. She reached her arms around his back and gave him a tight hug. This was okay, right? Best friends hug all the time. They stayed like that until Madie's voice interrupted. Rachel quickly backed away and cleared her throat.

"Mommy, Jack's at the door for you." Madie said.

"Madie, what did I tell you about answering the door by yourself? Don't do it." Rachel said gesturing for Finn to come. He followed behind her, stopping to sweep Ava up from her spot on the rug.

Madie went down the stairs first followed by Rachel and then a very slow Finn. Madie stopped at the bottom and waited for Rachel to get down. Jack was standing in the foyer waiting and his face lit up when he saw Rachel make her way down the stairs. She smiled slightly at him and said, "Hey Jack."

"Hey Rachel. You look beautiful, as always." He marveled.

Madie made an unappealing face and stepped forward next to her mother just as Finn made it to the bottom of the stairs.

Jack looked at him with a wolfish expression, then back at Rachel.

"Hey Jack. It's nice to see you again." Finn smiled sticking out his hand.

Jack reluctantly took it and said, "Flynn, was it?"

"Finn." He corrected, squeezing the man's hand.

"He's babysitting." Rachel said, putting a hand on his arm.

He nodded and stepped towards him, sticking his arms out to Ava. "Hi Ava! Want to come to Uncle Jack?" Ava yanking her arms away and shoved her face into Finn's shoulder, gripping his shirt tightly. "Guess not." Finn chuckled. Jack glared at the man and the baby and frowned when he saw Rachel staring doughy-eyed at Finn.

"Shall we go? The taxi is waiting." Jack said holding out his arm.

"Uh, sure." Rachel mumbled, ignoring his arm. "Bye girls. Mind Finn. I'll be home later."

They all gave her a quick hug, including Finn, and then the two walked out the door.

Rachel rode in the taxi silently as she barely listened to Jack talk all about something random. She really didn't want to talk (weird, right?), so it was fine with her. Rachel nodded slightly and looked out the window as they passed through Times Square. Soon they arrived and the driver let them out in front of the building. Rachel spotted a couple of her girl cast mates lingering outside of the restaurant and rushed towards them. When everyone arrived, they got their usual large table and sat down. Jack did everything he possibly could to get a seat by Rachel, including making several people switch with him. As Rachel talked and laughed with her friends, Jack kept putting his hands all over her. Usually Rachel was a pretty touchy person when it came to her friends and family, but Jack was just annoying her. Lately, he had been all over her. When she was in the room, his eyes were nowhere else. When they went to go meet all of the fans, he never left her side. When they had cast parties, he never left her side. When they had events to go to, he never left her side. He always ended up being being her partner for interviews. Oh and now he was _always _touching her. Whether it be an arm around her waist, a hand on the small of her back, an arm flung over her shoulder, a hand on her knee or thigh, or him trying to hold her hand. He claimed that he did it so they would get good publicity for the show—you know the whole act like a couple inside and outside of the show. Rachel thought it was sweet, he is a really nice guy (most of the time). _And _he is not bad looking at all. Extremely hot if you ask all of the teenage girls. Rachel even sometimes led him on, although she knew she shouldn't. She would never _ever _date a co-star. There is too much riding for her.

Jack kept discreetly placing his hand on her thigh and kept trying to rub his thumb on the bare skin above her knee. Every time Rachel would remove his hand, but he still didn't seem to get the hint. She even got so annoyed by him at one point that she got up and moved, leaving him sitting there by himself. After the long ass dinner was over, everyone headed towards the bar. They all occupied the biggest booth they could find and squeezed into the seats, Rachel making sure that she was stuck between Melissa and Stephanie. Everyone ordered their drinks and shots, but Rachel ordered a diet coke.

"Come on Rach, you gotta order some alcohol!" Ashley suggested.

"No thank you, I have two little girls at home." Rachel smiled. She was one of the only people in the cast that had small children.

"You're such a party pooper." Stephanie joked. "Jason has a kid, but he's still having fun. You got a baby sitter right?"

Rachel nodded.

"Then let loose! It's been nearly a year since you last had even a sip of alcohol!" Melissa said.

Rachel thought about it figured that one drink wouldn't hurt. She ordered a margarita, but Jack stepped in and said, "If you're going to drink you have to do it right." He ordered her 3 tequila shots and before she could protest, the waitress walked away. Not even five minutes later, the waitress came back and started passing out the shots. Derek slid her the salt and handed her a lime. She looked at everything reluctantly.

"Rach, you'll be fine. I promise." Stephanie assured her.

Rachel finally gave in, and poured some salt on the back of her hand. Going by Jack's countdown she licked the salt, downed the tequila shot, and bit down on the lime. It tasted _awful. _Even worse than she could remember. She could not scrape the disgusted look on her face. She tried to shake it off and before she knew it they were all downing their second shot, then their third. She knew that Madie and Ava were at home safely with Finn and there was no harm in what she was doing, so she decided to have fun with it. With her size, those three shots were enough to get her pretty tipsy.

It was already almost 10:00 and no one was on stage. Rachel took it upon herself to get the singing going and quickly scooted out of the booth. Everyone cheered and followed after her. She walked up to the DJ, whispered a song, and then grabbed a microphone and took the stage. The opening notes of 'Toxic' by Britney Spears started blasting.

Rachel ended the song slowly and laughed loudly in the microphone. The whole place was on their feet cheering and whistling for her. She stepped off the stage, and hastily made her way back to her group. The girls were all laughing their heads off and gave her hugs. The guys gave her high fives and whistled at her. While she was standing there laughing with Raegan, Jack came up behind her, grabbed her hips, and whispered in her ear, "That was so incredibly sexy."

Rachel's breath hitched and her eyes widened. She put her hands on his, and turned around. "Thank you Jack. That was the point." She smirked.

Before he could pull her in, she turned around and walked back to the booth.

"Who's next?" Rachel clapped. Jason chugged a shot and said, "I'll go."

After his song was over, everyone shot back another shot of Tequila, including Rachel. She was getting a little bit more than tipsy, but she could care less.

The cast took their turns taking the stage, some drunk and some relatively sober. Jack sang 'Ride' by SoMo. The whole time he was singing he was staring at Rachel, which was making her kind of uncomfortable but at the same time, she enjoyed the attention. Towards the end of the song, Rachel disappeared to the bathroom. When she came out, the song was over and everyone was back at the booth, getting ready to take more shots. Rachel didn't need to be asked twice if she wanted some more and she sat down and joined them. It was more than enough to get her absolutely drunk off her mind.

While she was wondering around, Jack grabbed her hips again spinning her around. He held onto her tight and whispered in her ear, "That song I sang was for you."

Rachel smiled brightly and put her hands around his neck. They started moving into what they thought was sexy dancing. But to anyone who was sober it just looked like two trashed people just trying to stand up straight. After 30 minutes of dancing, 30 minutes of slurred conversations with the cast, and some more singing, Rachel went to the restroom again. When she walked out, Jack pinned her to the wall.

"I missed you." Jack whispered.

"I was only gone for a minute, silly." Rachel slurred.

Without warning, he slammed his mouth into hers. She tried to resist at first, but then let the alcohol lead the way. It _had _been a while since she has really kissed anyone, so why the hell not? His tongue quickly made access into her mouth and both of their tongues fought hungrily. Rachel could not keep track of time at all, but to her it seemed like an hour had passed and they were still standing in the dark bathroom hallway. Her feet were getting tired so she pulled back and walked (stumbled) away. Jack followed closely behind her and as soon as they sat down, Jacks lips were on hers again. Stephanie pulled her away and out of the booth. "Oookaaay. That's enough of that." She pointed.

"What?" Rachel pouted.

"You'll thank me later." Stephanie said.

Rachel messily grinned and went over to the bar to order a coke.

* * *

><p>It was 1:30 and Finn was beyond worried. Madie was asleep in her bed, Ava was asleep in her crib, and Finn was in the downstairs living room watching a movie. He had dozed off for a while and when he woke up and realized it was past midnight, he started to freak. Rachel had told him that she would be home by 11. Finn knew there had to be something wrong. Rachel was never late and even if she was, she would call and tell him. He picked up his phone and quickly dialed her number. She didn't answer, so he tried again. And again. After the third call, and no answer Finn was extremely worried. He tried to think of every possible thing that could have happened that would cause her to be late, and not answer her phone. None of his thoughts made him feel the least bit better. He got up and started pacing around the living room. Finally, he decided to call her one last time and thankfully she picked up. Finn's ear was blasted with the sound of loud music.<p>

"Heyyyyyyyy Finnnnyyyyyyyyy." Rachel slurred out.

"Rachel? Rach, where are you? It's two in the morning!" Finn asked worriedly.

"Is it? Oh sorry, I lost track of time. Sorryyyy." She said.

"Rachel, where are you?"

"I'm at the Karaoke Bar silly! Where do you think I am?" She bubbled.

"Rachel, are you drunk?"

"Nope. Not at all. I'm trashed." She said, bursting out laughing.

"Who's there with you?" Finn asked, panicking.

"Everyone!" Rachel screamed.

"Can you ask one of them to bring you home?"

"Why would I do that? The night is still young!"

"Rachel, stay there. I'm coming." Finn said hurriedly.

"Finn relax! I'm just having a little fun!"

"I know Rach, and I'm glad you're having fun. You deserve it, but I'm still coming there."

"Yay! We can sing a duet together just like old times." She slurred.

"Yeah, maybe." Finn said, hanging up the phone. He quickly dialed Kurt's number.

"Kurt?"

"What do you need Finn?" Kurt asked groggily.

"Kurt, I'm on my way to drop off Madie and Ava." Finn said.

"Why in the hell are you doing that?" Kurt asked.

"Because Rachel went out with her cast tonight, and I just got off the phone with her. She's extremely drunk and I need to go get her."

"Finn, just let her have her fun."

"I know dude, but like how is she gonna get home? I really don't want her to end up in bed with that douchebag Jack."

"It's really none of your business." Kurt put in.

"Come on Kurt. You've been around drunk Rachel. She needs me to help her get home. No one else there is sober enough to help her and I don't want her to be taken advantage of." He trailed off.

Kurt gave a big sigh and said "Alright, bring them over."

"Thanks bud. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Finn hung up, and ran up the stairs. He packed their things quickly (using Rachel's checklist that she has taped to their dressers), sped to Kurt's, and then made his way to Times Square. The karaoke place wasn't too hard to find and when he finally stepped inside he automatically spotted Rachel 'dancing' with Jack. Just by looking at her, he could tell how drunk she was. He jogged over to the couple, stepping in between them.

"What the hell man?" Jack yelled.

Finn turned around and said, "Back off."

Jack tried to push Finn, but since he was at least 4 inches shorter and incredibly drunk, Finn didn't budge. When that didn't work, Jack resorted to punching. Finn ducked out of the way easily three times, before Jack knocked himself over. Finn watched him fall to the ground and chuckled.

"Finny! You came!" Rachel slurred, jumping into his arms. Finn caught her, and could automatically smell the tequila all over her.

"Rachel, you need to get home." Finn said gently.

"Nooooo! I want to stay here!" Rachel protested.

Finn looked at her in the eyes and said, "C'mon Rach. I'm gonna take you home. I don't want to risk anything."

She seemed to give in, and looked back at him in the eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and started swaying. "Okay we can go home, but dance with me first."

Finn danced (kind of) with her for a few minutes before he felt her soft lips on his neck. He widened his eyes and almost didn't want to stop her, but knew he absolutely had to. He gently moved her face away and she seemed to get the hint—for all of five seconds. She attached her lips to his jaw this time and Finn did everything he could not to let her continue. It had been way too long since he felt those lips. "Rach…" He warned.

"C'mon Finny, kiss me." She whined. "I want you to kiss me."

"Rachel, you're drunk. If you weren't drunk, you wouldn't want me to kiss you."

"Yes I would."

"No you wouldn't."

Rachel made a pouty face at him and Finn almost collapsed at how adorable she looked. She yawned and rested her chin on his chest. "Let's get you home." Finn wrapped a protective arm around her waist, and led her over to the bar where he ordered two bottles of water. He gathered the two bottles, paid her tab, and then slowly led her out of the bar. He helped her into the car, helped her put her seat belt on, and then walked around the other side and got in. Finn handed her a bottle of water and said, "Drink this. All of it."

Rachel happily obliged, and started chugging down the water.

"Did you eat?" Finn asked.

Rachel happily nodded.

"Great." Finn mumbled.

He started the car, and drove off slowly.

"Do you remember what time it was that you had your last drink?" Finn asked slowly.

"Midnight." Rachel slurred. "I think."

Finn could tell that water helped, and she was starting to calm down a little bit. He gave her the other bottle of water and she quickly got to work on it.

"How many did you have?"

"8 shots of tequila." Rachel stated.

"What? And you haven't blacked out or puked everywhere yet? You weigh like 2 pounds, how is that possible?"

"Finn, I weigh more than two pounds." Rachel whined.

"I know, I was being sarcastic."

"Don't do that when I'm drunk."

Finn drove through New York while Rachel quietly slurred everything about her night, _including _every single detail about her drunk make out session with Jack. After 10 minutes of babbling she quieted down and didn't speak another word. He knew that her hang over was starting to kick in and she most likely felt like shit. They finally arrived in front of her complex less than 10 minutes later. He wasn't going to just drop her off and leave her. She needed him. Once inside, Rachel dropped her purse on the floor, and went straight for the stairs.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, Rach. Let me help you." Finn said grabbing her. He reached down and took off her heels for her, and then slowly guided her up the stairs. He ushered her into her room, then straight to her bathroom. Finn made sure that she was safe, then went to her dresser to pick out some more comfortable looking clothes. He opened the top drawer first, and that was definitely not the drawer he meant to open. He was overwhelmed with a whole bunch of laced underwear and bras. Finn quickly shut that drawer, and made his way to the other ones. He eventually found a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and walked back into the bathroom where Rachel was standing in the exact same spot that he had left her.

"You okay?" Finn asked because she had an uneasy expression on her face.

Right as Rachel started to nod, she lunged toward the toilet and began to puke her guts out. Finn rushed to her side and held her hair back until she emptied the contents of her stomach. When Rachel thought that she was finished, she shut the toilet seat, flushed and sat down on it. Finn handed her the bottle of water and she happily chugged it. While she was doing that, Finn found a wash cloth and wetted it with cold water. He walked over to Rachel and gently started wiping it across her face and neck. He just intended to cool her off, but he ended up cooling her off and taking off most of her makeup. He threw the wash cloth in the dirty laundry and then left her alone to change her clothes.

Once she was changed, she walked back out into the room and laid on her bed where Finn was waiting. He got up, set a bottle of water on her night stand, set out 3 ibuprofen next to the water, turned off the lamp, and walked out of her room as she quickly started snoring.

* * *

><p>Finn woke up early the next morning so he would be awake when Rachel woke up with the awful hangover she was sure to have. He quickly got out of the guest room bed and went into the kitchen. He read somewhere that bananas and toast were good foods to eat when you have a hangover, so he popped a piece of toast in the toaster and found a banana. When he had the breakfast items ready, Finn walked slowly up the stairs and straight to Rachel's bedroom. When he walked through the door, Rachel was moving around in the bed. He slowly walked over to her side of the bed and sat the banana and toast down on the bedside table. The water and medicine was still sitting there as well, showing that this was probably the first time that Rachel had even stirred.<p>

"Rach?" Finn whispered.

She slowly turned her head towards the source of the noise and barely opened her eyes to see a half-naked Finn standing over her. Rachel was incredibly confused and she had a _pounding _headache. Her eyes squinted at the lightness of the room and she groaned loudly.

Finn gave a little chuckle and said, "Rachel you need to take this medicine. I know you probably have a pretty bad headache."

Rachel opened her eyes fully and rubbed them. She looked back over at Finn with wonder and said, "What happened?"

"You got pretty damn drunk last night at the karaoke bar."

Rachel's eyes widened and she sat up way faster than she should have only to be knocked back down by her dizziness.

"Whoa, it's okay. Take it easy." Finn assured.

"Where are the girls?" Rachel groaned.

"At Kurt's."

Rachel gave Finn a confused expression and Finn went on to explain, "At around two last night I called you because I was worried when you didn't come home. You answered completely trashed." Finn gave a small chuckle. "Your cast was all drunk too, so I needed to go pick you up. I took Madie and Ava to Kurt's on the way and then went and got you and brought you back here."

Rachel tried sitting up again, this time slower. She cradled her head in her hands and said, "Oh my god, I am a terrible mother. Oh, this is how Kyle got his rights taken away, I-I shouldn't have even gone out, I am such a bad mother, I…"

"_Rachel._" Finn stopped her. "You are an _amazing _mother. I don't know what Kyle did to get his rights revoked, but I can assure you that you are nothing like him and you did absolutely nothing wrong. You needed to get out and have a little fun." Finn smiled. "Don't worry about it, Rachel. The girls are safe. You're safe."

Rachel gave a big sigh and looked up at Finn. "Did you sleep here last night?"

Finn nodded and said, "Yeah, I didn't want to leave you here alone. I slept down in the guest room. I hope that's okay."

"That's more than okay. Thank you so much Finn. I would have been screwed if it weren't for you. There is no telling where I would have ended up."

"You're welcome." Finn smiled. "Now I suggest that you take this medicine, and drink this whole bottle of water. And you gotta eat at least a little bit."

Rachel sat up a little bit more and Finn handed her the pills. She quickly downed them all and chugged the water bottle. After all the water was gone, Finn handed her the plate and she slowly started to nibble on the two items. Eventually she had eaten the whole piece of toast and the entire banana. Finn took her plate and empty water bottle down to the kitchen, and came back with another bottle of water.

"Did I… did I tell you anything I did last night? I don't remember anything after I sang my first song." Rachel said hopefully.

Finn sighed and sat down on the bed. "Yeah, you did tell me one thing. In great detail, too."

"What was it?" Rachel said widening her eyes.

"Are you sure you wanna know?"

Rachel slowly nodded her head.

"Apparently, you had an hour long make out session with Jack." Finn said.

Rachel's eyes widened and her face reddened. "Oh my god." She whispered. "I'm so sorry that you had to listen to that! I don't remember that at all!"

Finn chuckled a little bit. "It is okay, Rach. You were drunk. It happens."

Rachel shook her head, still embarrassed. How was she going to face Jack now, knowing that she made out with him drunkenly for an hour? And was he as drunk as she was? Rachel felt dirty, and like she was taken advantage of.

"I guess I really like to kiss people when I'm drunk. Did I—"

"You tried. You made me dance with you before we left last night and you definitely tried, but I'm not a douche and I would never take advantage of you."

Rachel cringed. "I'm so sorry."

"It's cool. You up for a shower? I bet that will also help you in so many ways." Finn asked gently, stroking her hair.

Rachel sighed and with the help of Finn, slowly got out of bed. Finn was being over protective and even led her all the way into the bathroom causing Rachel to giggle.

Finn made sure she was okay and he walked out of the bathroom, shutting the doors, assuring her that he would be right outside in her bedroom. She took a long and hot 30 minute shower, and came out wearing a new pair of tiny shorts and a tank top. Her wet hair was up in a messy bun, and her face was completely natural. To Finn, she looked beautiful.

She slowly walked out of the bathroom and laid down on the bed next to Finn, who was watching a movie.

"Any better?" Finn asked.

"Much better. Thank you." Rachel smiled. She got under the covers, and immediately laid her head on Finn's bare chest before he could move. Finn smiled his trademark lopsided grin and his arm wrapped around her small body. "Thank you so much Finn. You're the best friend ever."

"Anything for you, Rach."

She smiled, adjusting her head on his chest.

"It would probably be a good idea to get a little bit more rest." Finn said barely above a whisper.

Rachel nodded her head and instantly fell back asleep.

* * *

><p>Rachel woke up to the sound of her phone ringing and looked up to see Finn still asleep with her laying on his chest. She got out of the bed as slowly as she could and picked up her phone, taking it downstairs.<p>

"Hello?" Rachel answered groggily.

"Rach? Where are you?" Kurt said quickly.

"Oh, hey Kurt. I'm at home." Rachel yawned.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay. I slept off my hangover for the most part."

"Where's Finn?"

"Upstairs sleeping." She said.

"In your bed?" Kurt accused.

"Yep." Rachel said as if it was no big deal.

"So when are you going to come get Madie and Ava? I'm sorry, but Blaine and I are going to get pictures made with Braylon at 2:00 and I have some things that need to get done at the store." Kurt said, changing the subject.

Rachel raised her eyebrows and looked at her clock. "You guys sure do have a lot of pictures done."

"Rachel, not the point."

"I didn't realize that it was already noon. Sorry, I'll wake Finn up and we'll come get them."

"Okay, thank you." Kurt responded.

"Okay, bye." Rachel said, hanging up. Just as she was about to walk back up the stairs, there was a knock on the door. She looked through the peep hole and _Hannah_ was standing on the other side. She scrunched her eyebrows together with confusion.

"Hey Hannah!" Rachel smiled. "What can I do for you?"

"Hi Rachel." Hannah said. "Did you just wake up?"

"In a way." Rachel said.

Hannah nodded. "Um, sorry to bother you, but have you seen Finn? I've tried calling him a billion times but he won't answer. He's not as his apartment either."

"Oh! Yeah, actually he's—" Just as she was going to explain, Finn came trudging down the stairs, stretching out his naked torso. _Just my luck. _Rachel thought. This was not going to end well.

"Oh." Hannah froze.

Rachel gulped. "H-he's here."

"Uh, Hannah! Hi." Finn said, embarrassed. He looked down at his chest and up to Rachel who had a scared look on her face.

"What the _hell?_" Hannah screeched.

"Wh—" Finn began.

"Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening right now." Hannah stepped inside. "Y-you two? What?" She couldn't even speak.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Hannah slow down. What are you freaking out about?"

"Are you two _sleeping _together?"

"_No!_" Finn and Rachel both exclaimed.

"Oh really? Because it sure seems like it! What is going on? You won't answer your phone, you are still in the same pants from yesterday which means you haven't been home yet, you both look like you rolled out of bed, and you just came down the stairs _shirtless."_

"Okay, I get why you would think that this looks bad. But I swear that nothing happened."

"Swear." Rachel agreed.

Hannah crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Then enlighten me."

"Okay, well as you know, I was babysitting the girls last night. Well, when Rachel didn't come home at the time she said she would be here, I freaked a bit. I called her and she had managed to get drunk off of her mind. So, I dropped the girls at Kurt's and went and got her and brought her home. She crashed and I didn't want to leave her alone so I stayed in the guest room."

Hannah didn't say anything for few seconds. "The guest room is downstairs. You were just upstairs."

Finn sighed. "I woke up this morning, gave her some medicine, made her eat and shower, and then we both fell asleep while watching a movie upstairs."

Hannah glared at Rachel, who moved uncomfortably under her gaze. "Let's go, Finn. We have plans." She said, without looking at him. "Go get your stuff."

"Okay?" Finn said, barely above a whisper. When he shuffled off to the guest room, Rachel spoke up.

"I'm so sorry, Hannah. I know that this looks bad, but really, he's telling the truth. Nothing happened. It's all my fault, really. I shouldn't have even taken a sip of any kind of alcoholic beverage. I am such a bad mother." She mumbled the last part, more to herself than anything.

"You're right. It is your fault. And I believe him. But, I still sometimes get the feeling that something is going on between the two of you."

"I—" Rachel tried.

"Don't." Hannah pointed a finger at her. "Don't try to fight it."

Finn came back into the room, a confused look on his face when he saw Hannah with a finger pointed at Rachel. "Everything okay?"

"Everything is fine." Hannah smiled. "Let's go." She pulled Finn by the arm.

"Oh, and Rachel. You're not a bad mother. You're actually a really great one." Hannah said quietly. She gave Rachel a sad look followed by a look she didn't understand. She nudged Finn out the door and barely let him yell a bye before she shut the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Please Review!<strong>


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Here is the next chapter :) You finally get to find out why Finn is so reluctant with Hannah and what happened with Kyle! I hope you enjoy! Self-beta'd, all mistakes are mine.**

* * *

><p>"So I decided to throw Madie a BirthdayHalloween party."

"Really?" Finn smiled. "When is her birthday?"

"It would actually be the day of the party. October 23rd."

"Are you going to have it here?"

"Mmhmm. We'll have it in here. I'll make up some games for everyone to play, there will be loads of candy and snacks, and we can have a costume contest. I have a show that night though so the party would have to be from 4-7. I really wish I didn't have to work on her birthday."

"I'm sure that she'll understand. If you want, she can stay the night with me and I'll see if Bray can come too. Even Avie can stay with me if you're comfortable with that."

"Really? I think that she would really like that! And you should know by now that I trust you with my children." Rachel smiled.

"Yeah, it'll be fun. The party sounds like a lot of fun too. Who are you inviting?"

"I was thinking about giving everyone in your class an invitation. And then I would invite Kurt and Blaine, Santana and Brittany and the twins, and Katherine and Harold."

"Wow. That's going to be a lot of kids hyped up on sugar running around and screaming." Finn laughed.

"We can handle it."

"We?" Finn doubted.

"Yes, _we._" Rachel smiled. "And I was going to ask Taryn if she wanted to maybe come and bring a couple of her friends to help out. Plus they are your students so they should listen to you!"

"Do the adults have to dress up?"

"They can." Rachel said. "I guess we can even give an adult an award for best costume too."

"But it's not required?"

"It's required for you." Rachel laughed.

"What? Why?!" Finn chuckled.

"Because I am dying to see you in a costume. It'll be fun."

"What are you dressing up as?" Finn asked.

"Not telling." Rachel whispered.

Finn rolled his eyes playfully. "Fine. We'll just surprise each other."

"Deal."

"What are the girls going to be?"

"I already ordered Avie a cute little ladybug costume. As for Madie, I don't know. Kurt has already talked to her about what she's going to be but they're keeping it a secret from me."

Before he could respond, Finn's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Finn!"

"Mom? Hey! How are you?" Finn smiled.

"I'm great Finn. How're you? How's Manhattan?"

"I'm good. The city is great. Really enjoying it."

"Wow I haven't talked to you in so long. I feel like I'm missing out on everything! Catch me up!" Carolee laughed.

"What do you want to know?" Finn chuckled.

"Well, what are you doing right now?"

"I'm hanging out at Rachel's place." Finn said, knowing that he never told his mother about meeting up with Rachel again.

"Rachel? As in Rachel Berry?"

"That's the one." Finn smirked.

"Finn Hudson! Why didn't you tell me you two got back together!? What happened to Hannah?" Carole cried.

"Because we didn't!" Finn said.

"Then what are you doing at her house?"

"Mom, calm down! We're just friends." Finn said looking over at a curious Rachel.

"Hi Carole!" Rachel screamed from where she was at.

"Hi sweet heart!" Carole screamed back. "When did you start hanging out with her again?"

"Like right when I got to Manhattan. Her daughter is in my class." Finn smiled.

"I guess that's good to hear_._"

"It's great, mom."

"Okay. How's the job?"

"Also very great."

"So you're just loving it there, aren't you? There is no chance of me convincing you to move back to Ohio?"

"Absolutely not."

"How's Hannah?"

"She's fine." Finn mumbled.

"Fine? What's the matter?" Carole knew her son.

"Nothing, mom. We just had a fight, that's all."

"Well how bad was it? Did you two break up? Finn, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! She got mad at me for a really dumb reason and it pissed me off. Its fine, we'll get over it."

"Well why did she get mad at you?" Carole demanded.

"For being a nice person and being a good friend." Finn said, bitterly.

"What?" Carole was really confused.

"Nothing." Finn muttered.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"No, mom. I promise."

"You better not. So I guess now is as good of a time as any to tell you that Burt and I are moving back to Lima. Burt finally retired."

"Really?! When?" Finn asked.

"Right before Thanksgiving. We found a house right down the street from the Berry's. So maybe you and Kurt could come here for Thanksgiving. And Rachel could come along so she could see her father's. And you could bring Hannah and oh, we could all have Thanksgiving together!" Carole exclaimed, getting excited.

"That would be awesome!" Finn smiled.

"Good. We can talk more about it as it gets closer. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright, I'm gonna call your brother now. Have a good day. I love you!"

"I love you too, mom." Finn said as he hung up.

"What was that all about?" Rachel wondered.

"My mom and Burt are moving back to Lima. They found a house right down the street from where your dad's are living." Finn smiled.

"Really? That's great!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Yeah, and she wanted to know if we could come down for Thanksgiving."

"Yes!" Rachel clapped.

Finn laughed and said, "Good."

"So what happened with Hannah?" Rachel wondered, her voice laced with curiosity.

Finn took a deep breath. "I don't think you want to know."

"Oh, but I do. C'mon, Finny. Talk to me."

Finn sighed reluctantly and slowly began talked. "Well…She got _really _mad at me for staying the night at your house the other night."

Rachel stopped what she was doing and raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Still on that?"

"Yeah. I mean, I did tell her that I would call her when I got home that night and I never went home so I never called her, so I get that she would be mad at me for making her worry and everything, but she was being ridiculous. Saying a whole bunch of shit that pissed me off and being just _so _angry at me for staying the night at your place."

Rachel nodded. "I-I'm sorry. I guess that's all my fault."

"No, Rach. Don't blame yourself. I was the one who didn't call her. She'll get over it, its fine."

"I don't want her to hate me!"

"She doesn't hate you." Finn laughed.

* * *

><p>It was nearing Saturday evening and Kurt had stolen away Madie and Ava to use them in his photo shoot to show off his new clothing line. They weren't supposed to be picked up until 8:00 that night.<p>

"What did you have planned for tonight? Anything with Hannah?" Rachel asked.

"I was just going to hang out with you..." Finn started.

"Do you wanna go do something? Like dinner?" Rachel pondered.

"Sure." Finn smiled.

"Where do you want to go?" Rachel asked.

"Let's go to Sardi's." Finn smirked after a small silence, causing Rachel to whip her head around to look at him.

"Seriously?" She laughed.

"Seriously. I haven't been there since we went last. Like 11 years ago."

"To be honest, I don't think that I've been back there since then either." Rachel chuckled.

"Okay, then let's go there."

"Don't you think it's a little too fancy of a place for friends to have dinner? What will Hannah think?" Rachel worried.

"It doesn't matter what Hannah thinks. You're my best friend and I want to have dinner with you."

"Is this another work date?" Rachel laughed.

"Something like that." Finn smiled.

Rachel smirked back at him and Finn got up off the couch. "If we're gonna go there, then I'm going to need to go home and change. I'll pick you up at 6:00. Sound good?"

"Perfect." Rachel smiled.

Finn instantly turned and walked out the door.

He arrived back at Rachel's complex wearing a white V-neck, a grey suit jacket, and dark, nice jeans, and a pair of brown Varvatos boots. He walked down the hall whistling and thinking about how he was going to get Hannah to stop being so ridiculous. Distracted, Finn quietly knocked on Rachel's door and she answered almost immediately. Finn's breath hitched when he saw her and all thoughts of Hannah immediately left his mind. She was wearing a very casual dress, like she wore all the time, but something about her was stunning. Maybe it was the perfect amount of eye makeup or the way her hair was slightly curled.

"Finn, why do you keep knocking? I told you that you can just walk in. You still have your key don't you?" Rachel said.

"S-Sorry. I-I uh forgot. Rach, you look beautiful." Finn spit out.

Rachel blushed madly and looked Finn up and down. "You don't look so bad yourself." She smiled.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." Rachel grabbed her purse and stepped outside in the hallway, shutting and locking the door behind her. "Let's go."

Finn put his hand on the small of her back and led her down to the car.

When they arrived at the familiar restaurant they were quickly seated, as Finn had called and made a reservation.

"It looks exactly the same as it did 11 years ago." Finn said looking around.

"Do you think that we will see Patti Lupone again?" Rachel smiled.

"I doubt it."

She giggled, and looked over her menu. The waitress came around and took both of their orders, and handed them their drinks.

Being in this restaurant reminded Finn of so much. It reminded him of Nationals Junior year and how they got back together. It reminded him of the last time that he had visited New York when he and Rachel were still technically together and how they broke up. He remembers walking by this restaurant that night and looking longingly at it as he made his way back to the loft.

"So what ever happened to that Brody dude? Did you dump him?" Finn surprised himself, and Rachel, with his question.

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Yeah. He turned out to be a complete asshole. He was a male prostitute the whole time we were dating and I didn't even know it." Rachel said rolling her eyes, but chuckling none the less.

"I knew that, but did you dump him or what happened?" Finn said plainly.

"What do you mean?" Rachel tilted her head.

"I knew that he was a prostitute." Finn shrugged.

"Oh, did Kurt tell you? I swear that boy…"

"No, Santana told me. She told me right when she found out."

"What? Santana found out before I did. She's the one that told me!"

"Yeah, she called me and told me the whole story. So, I…"

"You what?" Rachel pressed.

"I might have come here and beat the shit out of him."

"Are you serious?" Rachel's jaw dropped.

"Yeah… Santana helped me out by tricking him into a hotel room and then I showed up with the intention to just talk everything out with him, but he swung at me so I fought back."

"He told me that some guy off of the street hit him!"

"Well he lied…again. I was happy to put a nice shiner on his pretty little donkey face."

Rachel giggled. "It means a lot to me that you would come all the way here just to do that for me. Even if it was ten years ago and it was just a silly little fling."

"I'd do anything for you Rach." Finn smirked.

Rachel smiled shyly at him, taking a small sip of water. "So are you and Hannah okay? I know things have been a little rough lately."

"Yeah." Finn breathed. "Yeah, we're fine. She's over it."

Rachel nodded slowly. "Are you ever going to tell me why you don't want to move in with her? Or are you just going to make me wonder forever?"

Finn pursed his lips. "Depends. Are you ever going to tell me about Kyle?"

Rachel thought for a moment. She took a deep breath. Finn's her best friend, she could tell him anything. "You first." She challenged.

Finn smirked at her for a moment, before remembering what it was he had to tell. He stared at the bread at the center of the table while he got his thoughts together. Taking a deep breath he started, "To be honest Rach, I really don't know. I mean we talked about it a lot, especially when I got the new job. She has asked me countless times to move in with her. And I almost did a couple times. But…"

"But?"

"I don't know." Finn shook his head.

"Finn. Look at me." He raised his eyes to meet hers. She gave him a soft smile, showing him it's okay. "You can be honest with me. I won't judge, I won't even say anything. I'm here to listen."

Finn nodded, appreciating his best friend that much more. "I love her. I really really do." He started again. "And it's been a year, so I get why she would want to take that step. But, moving in means that I'll be all the more committed and I'll eventually have to propose and then we'll be married and then she'll want kids and…"

"But don't you want all of that?" Rachel interrupted. Finn raised an eyebrow at her. "Sorry." She bit her lip.

"Yes, of course I want all of that. I'm not getting any younger and I can't wait to start a family."

"So…"

Finn's heart was beating way faster than it should be. "I-I… I'm just not positive that I want it to be with Hannah." He almost choked. He has never said that out loud before to _anyone _and for some reason, he feels a little better.

Rachel stared at him, eyes wide, but not shocked. She nodded slowly, giving him an encouraging smile.

"And I _know _that's awful because she's my girlfriend and I love her, I really do. I'm such an awful person for even thinking that and saying it but… I can't help it." Rachel could tell he was getting frustrated with himself. She reached across the table and grabbed his hand.

"Finn. You are not an awful person by any means. Like you said, you can't help it. Maybe… maybe someday you _will _want those things with Hannah. Maybe it's just taking you longer to realize it than it took her."

Finn stared at the bread. "Maybe." He whispered. Finn was so screwed. He knew before Rachel even came back into his life that there was a reason that he didn't want to take another step with Hannah. He didn't know what it was, but he felt in his heart that it wasn't the right thing to do. Confused as he was, he chose to listen to the voice inside of his head and not move in with her. Now, like some miracle or something, Rachel was back in his life. She was beginning to prove that he made the right decision. He wasn't too sure, but Finn was beginning to think that he was developing strong feelings for Rachel. The kind of feelings that he _really _shouldn't have towards another woman when he had a girlfriend. The kind of feelings that he had in high school. And, _god_, Finn has done everything in his power to stop them. But it's clearly impossible because it's _Rachel. _So here he is, questioning his love for Hannah—the woman who, up until a month ago, he thought he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And this was such a bad idea, having feelings for Rachel. Because what happens if he breaks up with Hannah for Rachel, but it doesn't work out? Then what, he's lost _both _of them? Losing Rachel for a second time was definitely not an option. So if that meant that he needed to stay with Hannah and be best friends with Rachel, then so be it. As long as Rachel is in his life. He was so selfish. If Hannah only knew of all the thoughts going through Finn's mind right now. She would lose it.

"All I have to say is that I do not want to you settle for _anyone _or _anything_, Finn. You deserve the best. Promise me you won't settle? Promise me that you will go for what you want."

"I promise Rach." Finn squeezed her hand.

Rachel released his hand and smiled. "Good."

They ate for a few minutes in silence, enjoying the amazing food that Sardi's had to offer. While they ate, Rachel thought about how she was going to tell Finn about Kyle. She could tell that he was being a gentleman about it, and didn't want to push her, but she owed him an explanation.

"So you really want to know about Kyle, huh?" She asked.

Finn nodded slowly, swallowing his food. She began slowly and told him all about everything. She told him how they were great and happy and he was amazing for the first couple years of marriage. She told him how he slowly stopped caring so much as Madie got older, and how distant they got from each other, how they slowly stopped talking, and how they were screaming and fighting more than having actual conversations. She talked about when he stopped being a father to Madie. She told him about how just as Madie turned four, she found out that she was pregnant, then how she found out that he was cheating on her. She told about how everything quickly spiraled out of control from there and Kyle would be gone for short periods of time and how Madie cried every night for her daddy. She told Finn about the last fight that they had, how she told him she was pregnant, and when she came back from her show, he and all of his belongings were gone. "He hired a divorce attorney and I received divorce papers in the mail around a month later. I guess he wanted to get away quick." Rachel finished.

Finn sat, shocked and _angry _at the bastard. "Rach… that's awful. W-why would he do that? I cannot for the life of me understand why anyone would leave someone as amazing as you and Madie."

Rachel shook her head. "I don't know why either. I don't know what went wrong."

"So why doesn't he have custody?" Finn wondered.

Rachel took a shaky breath. "Well, when we were first divorced, the judge granted us split custody of Madie. I didn't understand why, he hadn't been an active part of Madie's life in over a year and didn't seem all that interested in being a father. So she got to stay one week with me, then one week with him. And as for the baby, I had the decision of whether or not I wanted him to be a part of its life. So we did the week by week thing for about a month, until he came to me and said that he didn't have time to keep her every other week, so he only wanted her every other weekend. That was fine with me—I was always a nervous wreck the entire time she was at his house, but this way she would still get to see him. We did the weekend thing for a short time before I started finding out about all the awful things he was doing. Madie would go entire days without eating, he was leaving her at his apartment _alone_, he was getting completely trashed while taking care of her, holding huge parties at his place while she was there, and just being the worst and most irresponsible father ever. Madie was actually frightened by him and would cry when it came time for her to go over there. I knew I had to do something when she came home one day with a huge gash on her leg from a broken beer bottle. I-I- He was _never _like that when or before I was married to him. He was a completely different man and I didn't even recognize him anymore. He even got fired from his precious job. So, I went to court, they investigated, and he got his rights taken away completely. He could only have supervised visits when I allowed it. Of course, that enraged him. He would show up at my apartment at three in the morning, drunk and carrying on about how he deserves to see his daughter. I had to call the cops on him _four _times. Then one day, I went to pick Madie up from daycare, but she wasn't there." Rachel paused, taking a deep breath. She hated thinking about this. "I was freaked out, obviously. The daycare workers told me that her father had come by and got her—clearly they had not gotten the memo. I was panicking and I tried calling him over and over and I went to his place, but I couldn't find him. So, I called the cops. They found them after a couple hours. Madie was completely confused and a little traumatized at the end of the night and that is when I decided that it was enough. I filed a restraining order against him and I haven't seen him in over a year."

Finn sat in his chair, completely still and stiff. His heart was thumping hard in his chest and a lump had grown in the back of his throat. "God, Rach. I-don't know what to say… I didn't realize it was that bad."

Rachel shook her head. "You don't have to say anything. It's done and over with and we are happy now. We are perfectly fine without him." She tried to give him a smile. "Really, Finn. Don't let it bring you down. I'm over it and now you know, so we don't have to talk about it."

Finn nodded, trying to smile a bit.

"So, while we were at Kurt's the other day, he mentioned someone by the name of… damn it. What was the name? J-Jerry? Jerod?" Finn looked down with a thoughtful face.

"Jeremy." Rachel squeaked.

"Yeah! That's it." Finn smiled, "Who is he?"

Rachel's lips tightened and she swallowed hard. Finn automatically knew he shouldn't have said something.

"Oh shit Rach, I'm sorry. If you don't want to…"

"No. It's fine. He was… he was the first guy that I started dating after Kyle." Rachel nodded slightly.

"Oh." Finn said quietly. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say so thankfully Rachel continued.

"He was great… at first. We had actually been really good friends for a while and he even knew Kyle a little bit. He had asked me out so many times that finally Kurt convinced me to just let loose and have fun and see where it takes me. I was terrified, but I did it. We ended up really hitting it off and became pretty serious. He had most of his stuff at my place and practically lived with me. Then one night, after we had been dating for seven months in May, I had left for a show with Jeremy at my place watching Madie and Ava. When I came home later that night, he was nowhere to be found and our babysitter was there. Madie and Ava were both asleep. I thought that maybe he had a work emergency—he was a surgeon—and when I asked the babysitter about it, she couldn't tell me anything. All she said was that he seemed to be in a big hurry. When I went to get ready for bed, I noticed that all of his stuff was gone. I didn't believe it at first. I had already gone through that once before and the last thing I needed was for it to happen again. I tried calling him over and over, but his phone had been _disconnected_. A week later, I got a fucking _email _from him saying that he 'Wasn't really feeling it anymore.' I wasn't really sure what happened, but he hasn't showed his face since."

Finn clenched his fists tightly. "What the _hell_?" He said way louder than he should have.

"Finn." Rachel warned.

"No, Rachel! That's _awful. _T-that's unbelievable that he would do that after Kyle did the same exact thing. I don't know what to say. I swear if I ever see this man he better kiss his pretty little surgeon hands goodbye."

Rachel smiled at Finn. "You're pretty great, you know that?"

Finn stopped his rant and looked up at Rachel. "So you're just okay with this?"

"Well—no. It messed me up pretty badly, even more so than I already was about Kyle. Plus the Jesse thing didn't really help—"

"Jesse?"

Rachel froze. _Shit. _

"Jesse? As in Jesse St. James? Or no, Jesse St. Asshole."

"Yeah, that's the one." Rachel choked out.

"What the hell did he do to you?" Finn asked.

"Finn…"

"Rach, c'mon." Finn pleaded.

Rachel took a deep breath. "About a week or so after the whole Jeremy fiasco, Jesse came to the city. He somehow got my number and address and begged me to go get some coffee with him. He was actually really really nice and sweet. He acted like a completely different person. He told me that he was staying in the city for a while and we made plans to see each other again. We just kept hanging out and we had dinner a couple times and just kind of got closer." Rachel shrugged, refusing to make eye contact with Finn. "After he was in the city for about a month, we had a little fling going. It wasn't anything serious—I obviously just broke up with Jeremy and wasn't looking for anything. But he was cool and I was lonely so I just went along with it."

"Did you sleep with him?" Finn interrupted.

Rachel looked down at her hands. That gave Finn all the confirmation he needed. He clenched his fork and did everything possible not to flip out.

"He got me really drunk one night a-and he wasn't so drunk and he…"

"He took advantage of you?!" Finn raised his voice.

"Finn." Rachel warned again. "Please don't do this."

"I'm sorry Rachel, but I don't like the way that men think they can treat you! It's not okay!"

"I know it's not okay, but there is nothing that we can really do about it anymore."

Finn clenched his jaw and nodded.

"Anyways, I got pretty pissed at him after that, but he somehow convinced me to forgive him. Now try to guess what happened a week later."

"He left?" Finn tried.

"His _wife _showed up with their five month old _son_."

Finn's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Why would I lie about that?"

Finn was beyond angry. "Why didn't you tell me any of this sooner?"

"Finn, I know you're angry. But, it kind of _just _happened a few months ago. I'm still trying to recover from everything myself."

Finn nodded softly.

"I'm so scared to be committed again." Rachel whispered after a while, more to herself.

Finn heard what she said and responded with, "I know you are."

"I've lost all my trust."

Finn stared helplessly at her.

"With all the shit that has happened, I feel like I will never be able to be in another committed relationship again because I won't be able to handle the heart break that would come with it. After everything, I knew that all of my trust was drained from my heart and it's deemed nearly impossible to get back. So that's the reason I still haven't dated anyone, even though that happened only about 2 months ago. I'm _so _scared that they are just going to break my heart again and I cannot handle that."

Finn sat there speechless. "Rach, I'm so sorry." A tear drop fell down his cheek. Rachel reached across the table and wiped it away. "I wish things could have been different for you. I wish I was there so I could have done something."

"You have done something. Finn, I didn't tell you any of that to make you feel bad for me. Like I said a while back, I don't want any pity. I told you that because I wanted at least _someone _to understand why I have trust issues. Kurt doesn't even know that's how Jeremy and I ended. I told him that I just didn't feel a connection or whatever. And I told you this because you have somehow made me feel like I can trust you and tell you anything and ask you for anything. You came back into my life in the exact time that I needed you. In this past month, you have helped me build up my trust again. All because you have just been there for me. And you have been kind to me and Madie and Ava. I haven't had that in a really long time and that's all I really needed. After that one night that you came and picked me up from the karaoke bar, I knew that I could trust in you. So you being around is actually helping me heal." Rachel smiled. "You, Kurt, Madie, and Ava are the only people in this world that I fully trust now. Thank you for being like the best friend ever." Rachel said in a dramatic tone.

"I'm glad that I could help. It makes me very happy knowing that you trust me. And I want you to know that I would never do anything to intentionally break that. I promise." Finn confided.

"Thank you."

Finn and Rachel both continued eating in silence. Rachel watched Finn as he finished his desert, thinking about how she managed to fall in love with him again. She didn't want these kind of feelings again, because every time she feels them something horrible happens and she just ends up with a broken heart. No matter how much she trusts Finn, she is still scared to commit completely. 'With commitment, comes heartbreak' is all that her mind is telling her right now. But it's too late now because she has already fallen in love with him again. Finn Hudson is someone that _everyone _falls in love with and she hates him for it. No matter what she feels, though, Finn is off limits. He has a girlfriend and they've been together for a really long time, and even though Finn was questioning his future with her, Rachel feels like they won't be breaking up any time soon. Plus, like she said, Rachel still wasn't ready for anything. So the only thing that Rachel could think of that could save her from getting in too deep, was space. Finn needed space to figure out what he wants with Hannah and to fix things and Rachel needed space to think about how she was going to keep her feelings with Finn at bay and just be best friends with him. If she stops spending so much time with him, then maybe his relationship will improve and Rachel will figure out all the mixed emotions and craziness going on in her head.

She brought up Hannah again and they talked and talked about how Finn felt about different things and what he could do to help the relationship and move towards taking another step. Rachel had absolutely no idea why she was encouraging this damn relationship so much, but if they got even more serious, then _maybe _Rachel's feelings would die down with the realization that she could never have him. But the more they talked about him progressing with Hannah, the more Rachel felt as if she was going to lose Finn altogether. That _definitely _wasn't an option. Rachel doesn't know what she would do if she lost Finn again.

They finished up their meal, Finn paid, and they left in time to go pick up the kids from Kurt's. The whole ride there, Rachel didn't speak a word.

When Rachel knocked on the door, Santana answered and looked the both of them up and down.

"Hey Santana." Rachel smiled.

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You two been on a date?"

"No, just to dinner." Rachel responded, quickly.

"So, a date?"

"No." Rachel said. "Just two friends having dinner."

"So you went on a date."

"No, Santana. Just let us inside." Rachel retorted.

Santana finally gave in and she stepped to the side so the two could walk in. Santana led them both up the stairs and into Kurt's office where everyone was at. Madie, Ava, Braylon, Hadley, and Maddox were all five sitting on the floor of his office playing. Kurt, Blaine, and Brittany were all gathered at the computer.

"Hey guys! How does it feel to be super models?" Rachel laughed, trying to be happy.

"It was _so _cool!" Madie praised.

"Come look at the pictures we got. They are really cute." Kurt said, waving them over.

Finn and Rachel stepped around the toys that were scattered on the floor and got closer to the computer screen. Madie's hair and eyes looked especially beautiful in all of them. There were mostly just some of her sitting and looking in the camera and smiling. There were a couple of her laughing, running, just standing in front of the white screen, and then some of her and Ava. The ones of Ava alone were just as adorable. She was sitting in most of them, laughing in a lot of them, and crawling in some of them.

"So when will the posters be up?" Rachel asked.

"We still have to pick the best ones, and then I have to send them to the printing company. So they probably won't be up for another couple weeks." Kurt said.

"Where will they be?" Finn asked.

"There's going to be a big one in the store window, some throughout the store, a couple throughout Manhattan, and about 3 in Times Square." Kurt smirked.

"Seriously?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, the new children's line has already brought in tons of money."

"That's really cool, little bro." Finn said.

"It's also really cool that all of our children's faces will be on big posters in Times Square." Blaine smiled.

"Yeah it is!" Rachel laughed.

Finn looked at his watch and noticed that it was 9:00. "We should probably get going. It's getting late."

Rachel agreed and Finn drove the three girl's home. Rachel didn't say one word to Finn the whole time and just barely mumbled a 'bye'.

* * *

><p>An entire 2 weeks had passed and Rachel had barely spoken to Finn. She had to on Thursday's because he babysits every Thursday, but nothing other than that. Finn was tired of it and needed to know what was going on. He had a lot to talk to her about and missed seeing her face every day. He picked his phone up and dialed her number. No answer. After three more calls, still no answer. So, he decided to just get in the car and drive to her place. When he knocked, she swung the door open and her face immediately fell.<p>

"Hey Rach." Finn smiled.

"Finn, what are you doing here?"

"We haven't talked in a while… I miss you."

Rachel's eyes flickered down.

"Are you uh… avoiding me?" Finn swallowed.

"Why would I do that?" Rachel said quietly.

"I don't know… that's a good question."

Rachel sighed.

"Can I come in?"

"I don't know…" Rachel started.

"Rach. Please." Finn begged.

"Okay." She opened the door and let him inside. He made his way over to the couch and sat down, just like normal. She took a seat on the chair next to the couch.

"Rach, talk to me. What's going on? Are you mad at me?"

Rachel shook her head.

"Rach."

"Don't you have a girlfriend that you should be bothering instead of me?" She snapped.

Finn's face fell. Is that what this was all about? Hannah?

"W-what?"

"I'm sorry… that was rude." Rachel apologized.

"Yeah…"

Rachel looked everywhere but at Finn.

"Rachel, are you mad at me because I have a girlfriend?" Finn asked.

"No, don't be silly."

"Really? Because I smell a little jealousy."

"Finn, we're best friends. Why would I be mad at you for dating someone else?"

"That's a great question."

Rachel took a deep breath.

"Rachel, you were the one that was encouraging me to move forward with her and giving me ideas and..."

"I know, I know." Rachel said. "Don't remind me. I'm sorry."

"No you're not." Finn smirked. "You are so incredibly jealous."

"I am not." Rachel lied.

"You haven't spoken to me for two weeks unless you absolutely had to!"

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Rach, talk to me."

_I'm scared that I'll act on the feelings that I have for you. _She thought. "I just don't want to lose you." Her voice cracked.

"What? Rach, you're not going to lose me! Just because I'm dating someone doesn't mean that I can't still be here for you. I can still talk and see you every day, I can still come to your shows, and I can still hang out with you and the girls… I've been dating her this entire time and we still did all of that stuff. What's changed?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it started at Sardi's when we were talking about it and I realized that the deeper you get with Hannah, the less time you'll have with me and I can't lose you again, Finn. It's just not an option."

"Oh, Rach." He motioned for her to come sit by him. "I swear that you will never lose me again. It doesn't matter how far I go with Hannah, if I even choose to go any further. You will always be my best friend. We've grown so close in this past month and I wouldn't trade it for the world. And you pushing me away is not going to help with the whole not losing me thing."

"I know, I was being silly."

"C'mon Rach, I love you way too much to ever let you go again."

Rachel blushed madly. She smiled a small smile and finally looked up at Finn. "Okay." Her voice barely allowed her to say.

"If anything, Hannah should be the one that is afraid of losing me. I have been spending an awful lot of time with you—and I'm _not _saying it's a bad thing at all. It's just, she's starting to get a little fed up."

"_See, _this is another reason why I have been so distant. I knew that you had things to do to strengthen your relationship with Hannah and spending all your time with me is not going to help _anything._"

"Okay, and I get that. But you don't need to worry about that. I can handle things with Hannah just fine. I don't need you shying away from me when I need you to help me."

She smiled a small smile and finally looked up at Finn.

"Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded.

"So we all good?" Finn asked, throwing his arm around her.

"Yeah." Rachel smiled. She was so completely screwed.

* * *

><p><strong>PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know stuff that you want to happen or what you think is going to happen! I would <em>love <em>to hear opinions and I can work stuff that you want into the story!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hellooo :) Here is Chapter 7! I hope you like it :) Lots of cuteness. I read all of your ideas and I've already written some things into future chapters! You'll just have to be patient... Self-beta'd, all mistakes are my own. Merry Christmas!**

* * *

><p>On Saturday morning, Rachel woke up super early. It was Madie's sixth birthday. Rachel had so much to do before the party started at 4:00. She had already gone shopping for all of the food and decorations, so all she really had to do was set up, but that would take a while. Finn offered to pick up the cake for her, and he, Braylon, Kurt, and Blaine would all be there at noon to help set everything up.<p>

Rachel quickly got out of her bed and jumped in the shower, dried her hair, got dressed, and put some make up on. She made her way quietly into Madie's room, before switching on the lights and screaming for her to wake up. Madie instantly sat up, jumped out of her bed, and flung herself at her mother.

"Hey sweetie! Happy Birthday!" Rachel laughed, while giving her daughter a huge hug, squeezing her for longer than Madie would have liked.

"Thank you momma! Where's my presents?" Madie clapped once she finally slipped from her embrace..

Rachel let out loud laugh and said, "You'll have to wait until later when all of your friends get here to open your presents!"

"Fine." Madie smiled.

"Okay, let's get you dressed and go get some donuts. You want to?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, mommy! Please!"

Rachel had bought her an outfit to wear earlier that week. It was a white shirt with a big 6 on it, an orange skirt, with tights and some little flats. She looked _adorable. _Rachel even curled her hair for her, and of course finished it off with a big bow. They got Ava ready together and they went downstairs and across the street to the donut shop. Madie was telling everyone that they talked to that it was her birthday, including the donut shop workers. This seemed to work out in Rachel's favor and they gave them the donuts for free.

After Madie quickly wolfed down all of her donuts, they went to the park for pictures. Every year on her birthday, Rachel would have a little mini photo shoot at the park of Madie. Rachel took all kinds of pictures of her all over Central Park, including her blowing bubbles, swinging, running through the grass and down the side walk, feeding the ducks, playing with Ava, and dancing through the open space. Lastly, they found a huge and gorgeous tree and Rachel had Madie stand in front of it holding a small sign that said, 'I'm six years old!'

Right after she took that picture, she posted it on twitter with the caption, 'My birthday girl! :)'

They were finally done with the photo shoot and slowly started making their way back home. It was 11:00 when they finally did get home, and believe it or not, Madie passed out on the couch while watching a movie. Rachel began cooking things for later that night, with the help of Ava. Just small Halloween snacks like popcorn balls, caramel apples, pretzel spiders, and mummy dogs. She even arranged the vegetable plate around so that it looked like a pumpkin. She also made the 'Eyeballs' that were really just chocolate cake balls with white, red, and black icing that was made to look like an eyeball. Right after she had finished with all of the cooking, she sat down on a bar stool in the kitchen and looked at all of her replies on twitter.

_Oh my god, she is so cute! _

_Tell her happy birthday for me!_

_Happy Birthday Madie! Xoxo_

_Wow she is 6 already? She's getting so big!_

_I remember the day she was born! You were still playing Wendla in Spring Awakening!_

_I hope she has a great birthday!_

_Beautiful, just like her mother!_

_Ahh she looks just like you!_

_Such a happy looking 6 year old :)_

As she was reading through them, Finn walked in the door causing Madie to wake up. It had been a few weeks since the whole Sardi's fiasco, and Rachel could honestly say that they were perfect now, and back to their old selves. Rachel was over the whole 'we both need space' thing, she was out of her mind to think that would work. But, they were good. Finn and Hannah were finally getting better too, according to Finn.

Madie squealed and shot up off of the couch and ran towards her teacher. Finn had the cake in one hand, and 2 huge pink present bags in the other. Rachel led Finn into the kitchen to set down the cake and sent Madie to go play.

Rachel slowly opened the lid to reveal the cake. It was huge, orange, and was decorated to look like a pumpkin. It had the words, 'Happy 6th Birthday Madie!' on it.

"Thank you so much Finn! It's perfect!" Rachel said, hugging him. "It was $60 right?"

"No Rachel, you're not paying me back." Finn smiled.

"Finn Hudson! I'm the one that asked you to pick it up on your way here and I told you that I was going to pay you back!" Rachel said, digging through her purse. "Here, take the money."

"No, I don't want it." Finn smirked, pushing her hands away.

"Finn!" Rachel whined.

"Rachel!" Finn repeated trying to mimic Rachel.

Rachel gave him a sarcastic look and put both of her hands on her hips. She looked just like Rachel Berry.

"Rachel no. You have paid for so much, including those front row circus tickets which were most likely well over $100. Just let me pay for this cake for Madie! I want to! For my favorite student." Finn smiled, moving over to hug her.

"Fine. But, I still don't like it." Rachel pouted, reciprocating his hug. "Speaking of, isn't going to be a tad bit awkward with all of your students here… and all of their parents. My teachers never came to any of my birthday parties."

"None of your teachers were best friends with your fathers either." Finn laughed. "If the parents have a problem with it, they'll get over it." Finn gave a small chuckle and pulled out of the embrace. "All this food looks so good." Finn said with wide eyes. "I like the eyeballs."

"Thank you." Rachel smiled, biting her lower lip.

"What flavor?"

"Chocolate."

Finn started slowly moving his hand towards the cake balls, exaggerating his movements so Rachel would see him.

"Hey, don't you dare, Hudson. Those are for later." Rachel said, swatting his hand away.

"But—"

"No." Rachel smirked with one eyebrow raised.

"Where's Hannah?" She wondered as she turned around to the sink. "She'll be here later." Finn slowly started sticking his hand towards the cake balls again. Ava laughed loudly from her spot in her high chair and Rachel turned around just in time to spot him, swatting his hand again.

"You're so mean." Finn said, grabbing her waist. She smiled a proud smile and he began to playfully squeeze her waist causing her to squeal like a little girl. She wiggled out of his hands and tried to make a run for it but Finn caught her from behind, picking her up and spinning her around while he moved them away from all of the food. When she was back on the ground, Rachel turned around and Finn started with the tickling again. He knew how ticklish she had always been and it was always his favorite thing to do to mess with her. She was laughing so hard and trying to get his hands away from her, but it was no use. He finally started lightening up on the tickling, and pulled her in close to him. His hands were perched on her hips while hers were laying on his toned chest. Finn looked down into her dark eyes as she flickered her eyes from his eyes to his lips twice before she felt herself slowly leaning up to him. She had no idea what she was doing, but she couldn't stop. When their noses were almost touching, someone loudly cleared their throat from the door way causing them to fly apart.

"What's going on here?" Kurt asked with raised eyebrows.

Rachel tightened her lips into her mouth and quickly replied with, "Uh, N-Nothing."

"Really? Because it looked to me that you two were about to kiss." Kurt said with a knowing expression.

"We- Uh, no we uh…" Rachel wasn't sure why words couldn't come out of her mouth.

"I was just messing around with her and we uh…" Finn started.

"Finn!" They all heard a small voice say, thankfully interrupting the current conversation. Everyone looked around to see who it was and they heard it again. "Finn!"

Rachel turned towards Ava with wide eyes. "Ava? What did you just say?"

"Finn!" Ava clapped.

"_Oh my god! _That's her first word!" Rachel choked.

"Wait, seriously?" Finn laughed. "She hasn't said mama yet?"

"No, but thanks for rubbing that in." Rachel laughed, picking her small daughter up.

"Say it again Avie." Finn egged her on.

"Finn!" Ava giggled.

"Yay Ava!" Rachel bounced her up and down. "Good job!"

"I cannot believe that child's first word was Finn. She really does love you doesn't she?" Kurt shook his head.

"I guess so." Finn smirked, taking the girl out of Rachel's arms.

Kurt eyed both of them before getting distracted by the food. "Oh, all this food looks so wonderful!"

Rachel smiled, thankful for the change in conversation. "It's almost 1:00. Should we start decorating?"

Kurt and Rachel began decorating in the kitchen, while Blaine started in the living room, and Finn took Ava upstairs to lay her down for a short nap.

While they were setting the food out, Kurt asked Rachel, "So what's really going on between you and Finn?"

"Nothing." Rachel declared.

"Really, Rachel? Because that didn't look like nothing. If I wouldn't have walked in then you two would have kissed."

"You don't know that." Rachel said, not looking up.

"Rachel. Have you two kissed before?" Kurt asked, studying her face.

"Yes. We used to kiss all the time in high school." Rachel smiled.

"You know what I mean." Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"No, Kurt. We haven't kissed. Nothing is going on. I'm not ready for a relationship, remember?"

"That doesn't mean that he hasn't tried to kiss you." Kurt informed.

"He wouldn't do that. He knows I'm not ready. _Plus_, he has a girlfriend." Rachel said in a cut-throat tone.

"Do I smell a little bit of jealousy going on here?"

"No. Finn and I are just best friends. I think that's all we will ever be."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Kurt mumbled.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"Oh come on Rachel. Everyone who has ever laid eyes on the two of you know that's not true. It's just the matter of the two of you realizing it now." Kurt shrugged and walked out of the kitchen.

After the table was decorated and full of foods, they went and checked on the boys. The living room was already full of decorations. A huge sign that said, 'Happy Birthday Madie!' was hanging over the back wall and there were several plastic like decorations hanging up on the walls and even some hanging from the ceiling. (Rachel had no idea how they managed to do that). Blaine was beginning to set out the folding chairs in different areas of the living room while Finn hung tinsel along the stair's railing. Rachel went and hung a Halloween wreath on their door to help people out and Kurt began placing goodie bags in an orange bin on a table by the front door. To finish up, they all blew up about 50 balloons and scattered them throughout the downstairs.

By the time everything was set up, the kids came trotting down the stairs just as there was a knock on the door.

"That must be Hannah." Rachel said quietly. A noticeable frown formed on Finn's face, causing everyone to exchange awkward glances.

Rachel opened the door for Finn's girlfriend and politely greeted her. Hannah walked right past Rachel and the others, straight to Finn and gave him an exaggerated kiss on the lips. Finn pulled away and gave her a weird look. "Uh, hey Han. Your costume is… interesting." He spit out. She was dressed up as a bunny. It was a little inappropriate (slutty) for Rachel's taste and going by the look on Kurt's face, he felt the same way. Rachel stood there, red in the face, trying to say something, _anything. _

"Mommy when do I get to put my costume on?" Madie whined, coming to Rachel's rescue.

"We can go right now. Where is everyone else's costumes?" Rachel asked looking at all of the adults.

"Mine is over here." Finn said, walking towards the big backpack that he came with.

"Ours is down in the car." Blaine said. "I'll go get them."

"Rachel, I will get Madie and Braylon ready. I have everything Madie needs with me. You and Finn go upstairs and get ready and don't come down until I say it's safe." Kurt guided.

Before Hannah could object to Rachel and Finn getting dressed together upstairs, Finn spoke up. "We'll be right back, babe."

Rachel started up the stairs and Finn came charging after her, making her almost trip. Finn caught her by the waist and made her run faster, Rachel laughing loudly the entire way. Hannah stood at the bottom of the stairs watching, squeezing the straps of her purse extra hard. Rachel and Finn went to wake Ava up from her nap and they got her ready in her little costume in no time. Then, Rachel got ready in her bathroom while Finn got ready in her bedroom. Neither of them knew what the other was. When Rachel knew that he was ready, she walked out into her bedroom to reveal their costumes. Finn's jaw dropped and Rachel busted out laughing.

Finn was wearing a blue skin tight, superman body suit that showed off his ass perfectly with a cape that had the superman symbol and the words _Super Teacher _on it.

Rachel was wearing a long sleeve, skin tight black shirt, black tights, a black tutu (with black spandex underneath), black high heel boots that went up to right below her knees, a black tail, and some cat ears. Her hair was perfectly curled and she had painted a pink nose and some whiskers on her face.

Rachel could not stop laughing at Finn and Finn could not stop staring at Rachel.

"Finn, I love it. I think you won the best costume already." Rachel said trying to stop laughing.

"Damn Rach, you look… sexy." Finn spit out.

Rachel stopped laughing and looked down at herself. She looked back up at Finn, bit her lip, and said, "Too sexy? Should I change? Because this _is _a kid's party. I don't want to look like Hannah…" Rachel mumbled the last part, hoping Finn wouldn't hear.

"No! Don't- Don't change. Uh, it's fine. You're fine. It's uh… it's…"

Rachel giggled and walked over towards Finn, thrilled that he had this reaction to her costume, but not to his _girlfriend's._ "Okay, Mr. Super Teacher. That's enough of that. _You _have a girlfriend. Which, by the way, is downstairs."

"S-Sorry." Finn said finally looking away.

"Are you sure it's not too sexy? I don't want to get any weird looks from parents." Rachel doubted, changing the subject.

"No, I promise it's not. I mean, you do look pretty damn good in it but I think that it is totally appropriate. You're barely even showing any skin and your butt is covered by the skirt type thing, unlike Hannah's, which I feel is a little distasteful, but..." Finn said trying not to look at Rachel.

"Okay, good. Its 3:45 and people should be arriving soon. Let's go see what everyone else is!"

Rachel grabbed Finn's hand and they both walked downstairs when they got the okay from Kurt. Kurt and Blaine were both standing in the foyer in their costumes. Rachel busted out laughing just like she did when she saw Finn. They were dressed the exact same in baby costumes, complete with onesies and diapers. They looked _hilarious. _

"Oh my god! I love it!" Rachel laughed.

"And you look mighty fine yourself." Kurt said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Is it too sexy? I asked Finn but he was too busy staring at me to give me a real answer." Rachel joked, forgetting about Hannah.

"No, I think it's appropriate." Kurt shrugged, making a face towards Hannah. "And Finn you look very hilarious. I like the Super Teacher cape. Your students will love it." He laughed.

"Thanks little bro. You look pretty funny yourself. Where are the kids?"

"They are _so _cute." Kurt said, leading them into the living room, revealing the costumes.

Madie was wearing white tights, a red and pink plaid skirt with a huge bow on it, and a red reindeer sweater, with black flats. Kurt even managed to style her long brown hair perfectly to go with the costume. Braylon was wearing some regular jeans, a brown and white plaid shirt, and a brown and green puffy vest. Kurt had forced them to stand all cuddled into each other when they revealed the costumes. It took a minute for Finn and Rachel to realize what they were dressed in, but once they did they both burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, Kurt! This is _genius._" Rachel squealed.

"Dude, this is awesome." Finn laughed, high-fiving his brother.

Rachel gave her little girl a big hug, her laughter still bubbling out.

"I don't get it." Hannah finally spoke up. Everyone turned their heads towards her.

"It's mini-Finchel." Kurt clapped.

Hannah raised an eyebrow while Finn and Rachel blushed at the word 'Finchel'.

"Mini _what?_" Hannah pushed.

"This is how Finn and Rachel used to dress 10 years ago in high school." Kurt explained. "Let's just say it's an inside joke."

"How did you get them to agree to this? Madie was so stuck on being SpongeBob."

"It took a little convincing, but once she realized that she was going to get to be _you, _then she agreed. That child worships the ground you walk on. And Braylon loved the idea of getting be like his Uncle. Plus, they can still be whatever they want on Halloween Night."

"Mommy, I'm you!" Madie giggled.

"You are baby girl. And I love it."

"Thank you for this Kurt. It's hilarious."

"We need pictures!" Rachel clapped. Rachel took a picture of just Madie and Braylon first, then one of mini-Finchel and adult-Finchel together. They all took several pictures, changing the people in every picture. Rachel made sure that she got a picture with just Finn, much to Hannah's disliking that clearly showed on her face. Rachel didn't know what was up with her. She's been acting like this towards Rachel ever since the whole karaoke incident. She thought Finn said that she was over it?

After the last picture was taken, Rachel posted the one of her, Finn, Ava and Madie on twitter with the caption, 'Party Time! Btw, Ava just said her first word! So proud!'

"Hannah, check this out." Finn smiled, plucking Ava from Rachel's arms. He carried her over to where Hannah was standing and said, "Say Finn!"

"Finn!" Ava clapped.

"Awesome, right?" Finn smiled brightly towards his girlfriend. "It's her first word." Hannah did not looked pleased. She moved her eyes from Finn's smiling face, to Rachel who was greeting Katherine and Harold at the door. Katherine didn't seem to approve of Rachel's outfit, but kept her mouth shut once she caught sight of Hannah's. Soon after that, Taryn and two of her friends arrived to help out with all the kids. After them was Santana and Brittany, then Holly and Alyssa, and soon enough all the parents and kids had arrived.

Rachel mingled and chatted with the other adults—who all seemed to approve of her clothing options and who all had something to say about Hannah's. After everyone had their food and what they wanted, Finn and Rachel finally decided to get a piece and took a seat in two of the folding chairs that were set out to eat and watch all of the children. As she was eating, she looked through her replies on twitter from the most recent picture that she posted.

_Love the costumes!_

_Rachel, your costume is sexy._

_That is one handsome superman! ;)_

_What was Ava's first word? Mama?_

_Madie looks adorable even though I don't understand her costume Lol._

_Wow you've been spending a lot of time with him!_

_They are soooo cute! _

_Aww I wish I could come to her party!_

_Have fun :) _

_Is Madie a school girl?_

_Madie looks adorable! And Ava is just downright precious._

_Love the cat look!_

Hannah stood in a corner on the other side of the room watching her boyfriend and Rachel sit way too close for her liking and laugh about something on Rachel's phone.

After everyone was done with pizza, Hannah showed back up next to Finn. She immediately gave him small peck on the lips. A bolt of jealousy immediately ran through Rachel just like before and she knew she needed to distract herself. She turned on some music and the kids played a couple different dancing games and other small games. After a while, Finn helped her clear a spot on the dining room table, lit the cake, and wrangled everyone up into the dining room. When everyone was done with their cake, it was present time.

If he was being completely honest, Hannah was getting on Finn's nerves. She was practically attached to him and wouldn't let him do anything without her knowing about it. She was also really touchy—he likes how touchy Rachel is, it shows that she cares—but Hannah was being weird about it. She even tried to initiate a make out session, but Finn wasn't having any of it. It's was a _kid's _party for goodness sakes. It's like she was trying to show off or something. She even got upset that Finn had been holding Ava the whole time. She had fallen asleep in his arms and Finn didn't really want to wake her up so he kept her. Finn sat down right next to Rachel, leaving no room for Hannah. With an irritated look on her face, Hannah stood in the back with the rest of the parents.

Madie got way more toys and presents than she would ever need. After all of her friend's presents, she opened Kurt and Blaine's present. Knowing Kurt, he got her everything that had to do with fashion. One of the big bags were full of clothes. Probably around $200 worth. The other bag had a huge makeup set for kids, a hair set for kids, and several different dress-up outfits. She gave Kurt and Blaine a hug, then moved on to Finn's present. In the first bag was a _huge _art set (apparently she had been spending a lot of time at the art center in school), three Barbie dolls, two movies, a framed picture of Madie and Finn on the day of Meet-the-teacher (Rachel loved this one), and a CD that Finn had made of all of her favorite songs. In the second bag was a _gigantic _teddy bear and the wrapped present was a mini pink guitar of which Finn promised to teach her to play. As she ran to give Finn a hug, Finn said, "Wait! That's not it!"

Rachel raised her eyebrows, and Madie looked at him in question. He pulled an envelope out of one of the bags and said, "This is 4 tickets to go see… SpongeBob on Ice."

"Really?!" Madie squealed. She had seen the commercial of all the SpongeBob characters skating around an ice arena and had been begging her mother to take her to see it.

"Yes ma'am. It's in two weeks. I hope you're not busy." Finn smirked.

"I'm not, I promise!" Madie clapped.

"Alright, good."

"Can I hug you now?"

Finn chuckled and opened his arms. "Of course."

Madie jumped into Finn's arm for a big hug, just barely avoiding Ava. As she was backing away she said loud enough for everyone to hear, "I love you, Finn!"

Rachel's jaw dropped a little bit, but her lips quickly formed into a genuine smile. Finn raised his eyebrows before his face went soft and gave her a bright smile. "I love you too, Madie." He wasn't sure that Madie actually meant it one hundred percent or if she was just caught up in the moment of presents, but he knew that he did really love that little girl and would definitely do anything for her. They got a couple weird looks from other parents because if you didn't know the whole story, it was weird for a teacher to love his student so much and give her such big presents. But that's the thing, they didn't know the whole story.

"Okay Madie, are you ready for mommy's presents?" Rachel asked.

"Yes! Finally!" Madie said, clapping.

"Okay, which one first?" Rachel asked, gesturing to the presents on the floor.

"The big one!"

Rachel stepped to the side so that Madie could get to the giant present behind them. Madie immediately started ripping off the bright pink wrapping paper and after several presents, she only had one left. The last one that she could open was a smaller box. Rachel gave it to her and she gently took the lid off to reveal a necklace. It had a gold chain that led to a small golden star that had tiny, _real _diamonds around the edges. Rachel knew very well that this was probably a very expensive gift for a six year old, but she trusted Madie and knew that she wouldn't lose it or ruin it. She would help her out also. It was around this age that her fathers had given her a gold necklace similar to this one, and Rachel still has it to this day.

"Mommy, it's so pretty." Madie said slightly above a whisper. Rachel had thought that her daughter might have been a little bit bored with the present, but the look on Madie's face proved her wrong. Madie was actually mesmerized. "Thank you, mommy."

"You're welcome sweet pea. Now you are going to have to take very good care of that necklace. Don't take it off at school and don't pull on it a lot. It's very expensive and it's a very mature gift. But I trust you and I think you can handle it. You're a big girl."

"I can!" She smiled. "Will you put it on me?"

Rachel took the small necklace out of the box and gently put it around her daughter's neck.

"Okay, I have one more present for you…" Rachel smirked.

"More?" Madie gaped.

"Mhm." Rachel nodded. She handed Madie another bag and she quickly ripped the tissue paper out and picked a plastic baggie up out of the bag. The plastic baggie was full of puzzle pieces that had words written on them. Rachel had purchased a blank, white puzzle and wrote words on it, then broke it up and put it in a baggie for Madie to solve.

"Okays Mads. You need to put the puzzle together and then read what it says to know what your present is." Rachel said.

Madie got to work on the puzzle right away with the help of a few of the other kids. They eventually figured out the 50 piece puzzle and she slowly began to read it.

"We… are… g-going… to…. Dis- Disney… Wor- world?" Madie was still in the process of learning how to read so she began by trying to sound it out.

"We are going to Disney World. We're going to Disney World! Seriously?! Mom are you serious? WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD?!" Madie screamed.

Rachel laughed loudly and said, "Yes ma'am! We are going to Disney World!"

Madie squealed again and jumped into her mother's arms. "Oh my gosh mommy thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're very welcome sweetheart." Rachel smiled. "We aren't going until Spring Break, but we are going to stay for a whole week."

Madie smiled again, and gave her mother another hug. She eventually ran off to play with some of her new toys, while Rachel cleaned up all of the wrapping paper and some of the dad's helped carry the presents upstairs and into Madie's room and the playroom. By now it was just before 6:00 and the adults all got together to decide on costume winners. They gave out the ribbons and everyone ended up getting a prize, so there wouldn't be any tears. Madie got the ribbon for most adorable and Finn got the award for best adult costume. At around 6:00 the families started leaving and surprisingly, by 6:15 every guest was gone except for Kurt, Blaine, Santana, Brittany, Katherine, Harold, Hannah and Finn. Rachel ran upstairs to change her clothes and grabbed Madie and Ava's overnight bags and when she came back down stairs, everyone had already cleaned up all the food, the whole dining room and kitchen, and had started to take down the decorations in the living room.

"You guys really didn't have to do this. I was going to clean tomorrow."

"Oh please. It's no trouble at all. There are 8 of us and it is getting cleaned up really fast." Santana smiled.

"Thank you so much. It's a really big help. But I need to leave to go to work now."

"You go ahead. We will finish up here and lock it up." Kurt said.

"I couldn't ask you to do that." Rachel whined.

"Rachel, leave." Blaine smiled.

Rachel gave a big sigh and Finn took the girls' bag out of her hand. "You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, I guess so." Rachel laughed.

They said their goodbye's to everyone and eventually walked out the door with Madie, Hannah, and Braylon tailing them, still in their costumes.

Once they had left, Brittany said, "So I think I won the bet."

Everyone looked at her in question, before they remembered the bet that they made on Finn and Rachel.

"No you didn't." Kurt laughed.

"I think I did! They were all flirty and giggly and were always right next to each other. They never left each other's side. Just like they were dating." Brittany informed.

Katherine looked over from where she was and listened in.

"They are always like that Brittany." Blaine said.

"Well how do you guys know that they aren't dating?"

"She would tell me." Kurt nodded. "I have to admit that I had my suspicions tonight too. When I first got here, they were standing in the kitchen in each other's arms and their faces were incredibly close. Like they were about to kiss."

"But they didn't?" Santana asked.

"No. I cleared my throat loudly and they sprung apart and started acting weird. When I asked Rachel about it she swore that nothing was going on. I think I believe her too. Plus Finn is dating someone right now. Didn't you see her?" Kurt shrugged.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Oh please, you're just saying that because you don't want me to win." Brittany said.

"No Brittany. They aren't dating. You didn't win the bet." Blaine said.

"Fine. But there is still a week until Halloween, so I could still win." Brittany mumbled and she plopped down on the couch.

* * *

><p>Just as Finn was placing the cinnamon rolls in the oven, the kids came flying out of their room.<p>

"Hey guys! How did you sleep?" Finn smiled.

"Good." They said in unison.

"Madie, your mom should be here in about 30 minutes."

Madie nodded and sat down on a chair at the bar next to Braylon.

"So did you have a good birthday yesterday?"

"Yes, it was the best one ever!" Madie clapped.

"That's good." Finn chuckled. "Why don't you guys go get ready for the day? I set your clothes out."

After they were both dressed, Finn helped Ava get dressed and he brushed Madie's hair for her and even managed to stick a bow in her hair just like Rachel does. He wasn't sure how he did it, but it looked pretty good. He put some gel through Braylon's hair and then let them go watch some T.V. Finn went back into the kitchen and set the table for five, then pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and drenched them with icing. As soon as he had the last one iced, he heard Rachel walk in and Madie scream, "Mommy!"

Finn walked into the foyer where Rachel was bending down to hug her daughter. "Did you guys have fun?" Rachel smiled.

"Yes mommy! I want to have tons more sleep overs here!"

Rachel smiled again and then noticed Finn standing shirtless in the door way. This would be billionth time that she has seen him shirtless, but it never fails to amaze her. Her eyes widened for a split second before she quickly cleared her throat and said, "Hey Finn."

"Hey Rach." Finn smirked. "Did you have a good show last night?"

"I sure did."

"Are you hungry? I made cinnamon rolls and coffee."

"That sounds great."

As Rachel was helping Finn finish up the dishes after they had eaten, Rachel brought up, "So Madie officially loves you."

Finn smiled over at her. "I guess she does. I hope that's not a bad thing."

"Not at all. It kind of took me by surprise though. She is one of the only kids I know that actually grasps the concept of 'love'. So far in her life, she has only told people that she truly loves that she loves them. Like me, Kyle, Kurt and Blaine, Brittany and Santana, Katherine and Harold, and my dad's. She has never said that to any of my friends or boyfriends before, or even any of her friends. You should consider yourself lucky." Rachel smirked. "She really loves you."

"Well I really love her. Ava too. They are like daughters to me now and I would do anything for them, just like I would do anything for you." Finn put a soapy finger on Rachel's nose causing her to laugh.

"What is it with you and putting things on my nose?"

Finn laughed and shrugged. "I don't know. I just really like your nose."

Rachel made a doubtful face. "You do?"

"I do." He smirked.

Rachel finished drying the last dish and sat down at the bar across from Finn. She cradled her coffee in her hand and sighed.

"Hey, I need to show you something." Finn said, gesturing for her to come with him. He led her down the hallway and into the room that he just recently redid. Rachel gasped when she figured out what she was looking at. "Finn! You did all this?"

"I did. I wanted the kids to have a nice place to sleep when they came over."

Rachel smiled widely at him and looked around the guest room turned kid's room. There were two twin sized beds with different SpongeBob comforters on them, two small shelves for each kid with toys and pictures already filling them, a dresser that they could share, two bean bag chairs, a huge flat screen T.V. hanging on the wall, and a white crib in the corner.

"This is amazing. Thank you. But please don't tell me that you went and bought a new crib for Ava?"

"Nah, that's Braylon's old one. Kurt let me borrow it." Rachel pulled Finn into a tight hug. Finn wrapped his arms around her, picking her up and throwing her onto one of the twin sized beds. "Finn!" Rachel squealed. He plopped down on the bed next to her and then pinned her down, starting to tickle her sides.

"Finn, stop!" Rachel laughed.

He slowed down his tickling, but remained on top of her.

"You know how ticklish I am." Rachel whispered.

"That's why I do it." Finn smirked. He reached a hand up to brush a piece of hair out of her eyes. Rachel kept her gaze on Finn's hazel eyes and a small smile played on her lips. Just as she was about to close the space between them, they got interrupted.

"Uncle Finn?"

Finn let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding, and lowered his forehead onto Rachel's shoulder.

"Yeah, buddy?" He asked as he and Rachel both sat up.

"Can Madie and I play video games on your Xbox?"

"Sure dude, I'll be there in a minute."

Finn stood off the bed, offering his hand to Rachel. She shyly took it, giving him a sort of apologetic smile. Rachel didn't even want to think about what would have happened if Braylon hadn't of interrupted them. Finn set up the game for the kids in the living room and came back into the kid's room to find Rachel looking at the pictures on the wall.

"I just noticed these pictures." Rachel pointed to the picture frames hanging up on one of the walls in the kid's room. "I love them." She said barely above a whisper. Finn stood behind her, his eyes running over all of the pictures he had hung up. Rachel leaned back into Finn and he wrapped her arms around her front. There was the picture of Finn, Madie, and Ava all cooking together, one of just Finn and Ava, one of just Madie and Finn, one of Rachel and the girls, a couple of Finn and Braylon, the picture of Madie and Braylon dressed up like mini 'Finchel', and one of just Finn and Rachel.

"You ready to go?" Finn asked. They had planned on taking the kids out and about the city today. Y'know, just for fun.

"Yeah."

Rachel and Finn were doing the last couple of dishes before they left and ended up having a little too much fun. It started out with Finn putting some dish soap on Rachel's nose again, causing Rachel to do the same for him. Then he blew a whole handful of bubbles in her face so she splashed him with water. They kept splashing until Finn got an idea. He smirked evilly, grabbed the sink nozzle and pointed it at Rachel.

"No, Finn, don't you dare." Rachel warned, giggles bubbling out of her mouth. Finn plastered a shit-eating grin to his face before he pulled the trigger and water shot out, completely soaking Rachel. She screamed, and stood still at first, not really knowing what to do. But she came to her senses and ended up running out of the kitchen hastily, laughter spilling from her mouth.

"_Finn_! I'm soaked!" She screeched, the kids running in to see what's going on. Finn came out of the kitchen doubled over from laughter. "Sorry, Rach. I had to."

"Come here, Finny. Give me a hug." Rachel started towards him.

"No, you're soaking wet!" Finn backed away. Rachel lunged towards him, chasing him through the apartment, the kids flying after them. She jumped onto his back and managed to get him down onto the ground. Rachel, Madie, and Braylon piled on top of him while Ava crawled as fast as should could towards them.

"Alright, Alright. You win!" Finn managed out.

"You bet we do." Rachel triumphed. They climbed off of Finn and he stood, taking a good look at Rachel.

"What am I supposed to do now? I can't go outside like this! I'll freeze to death."

"Come on, you can wear something of mine until your clothes are dry." Finn led her into his bedroom and searched through his drawers until he found the smallest shirt he owned.

"But what about my pants? They're wet too."

Finn searched until he found a pair of sweatpants with a draw string. Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"Just try it." Finn laughed. He left her alone to change and went to clean up the mess he made in the kitchen. She came out of the room completely drowning in his clothes.

"Hey! They fit!" Finn joked.

"Yes, Finn. They do." She said sarcastically. "I'm surprised the pants actually stay up."

Finn smirked at her. "Want me to put your clothes in the dryer?"

She nodded, handing over her wet clothes. "Use a dryer sheet, I love the way your clothes smell!" He proceeded to put the blouse, jeans, and to his surprise, her bra in the dryer.

"What about your underwear?" Finn asked when he came back.

Rachel raised her eyebrow. "They are relatively dry. I also didn't want to go commando in your pants."

"I wouldn't have minded." Finn smirked.

"I bet you wouldn't." Rachel teased.

He poured them both some more coffee and sat down next to the tiny girl.

"So… you know the whole Disney World thing?" Rachel brought up.

Finn looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty cool. I wish my mom had taken me to Disney World when I was a kid."

Rachel smiled. "Well… when I bought the tickets, they were having several different package deals. I got one of them."

"Okay?" Finn laughed.

"And it comes with plane tickets, a room in one of their deluxe resort hotels, several different food deals, and four week long passes." Rachel smiled.

Finn nodded, not really catching on yet. "That sounds really…wait—there's only three of you. Why'd you get four?"

Rachel smiled. "It was the family package and it was cheaper."

"What are you gonna do with the fourth one?"

"Well I was _hoping _that you would take it…" Rachel began.

"Wait, really?!" Finn stood up.

"Yeah." Rachel smiled brightly. "It would be so much more fun with you there with us."

"Rach, I'd _love _to! I'll pay you back. How much was it?"

"No. No paying me back."

"Rachel, this isn't just some circus ticket, this is _Disney World, _and it must've cost a fortune."

"Well, it was the family deal. It comes with four and it's actually cheaper than buying three separate ones. I was actually going to get one for you too, but it just worked out like this perfectly."

Finn studied her carefully. "You're sure?"

"I'm positive. Maybe I'll let you buy me a T-shirt or something while we are there."

Finn laughed and picked her up, spinning her around. "This is going to be so great. I can't wait. When is spring break?"

"They get out of school on Friday, March 9th and it's the whole following week. You're a teacher, shouldn't you know that?"

Finn ignored her comment and hugged her tightly again.

"Yay!" Rachel clapped.

"What are you doing for Halloween?" Rachel asked once they calmed down.

"Whatever you're doing." Finn smiled. "It's on a Friday night, don't you have a show?"

"Nope, I got the night off."

"So do we have plans?"

"We sure do have plans. That is unless you would rather spend it with Hannah." Rachel said quietly.

"Nah, I'd have more fun with you."

Rachel smiled widely.

"So what do we have planned?"

"Well first we have been invited to Katherine and Harold's neighborhood to trick-or-treat. It's a really nice area and that's where I've always taken Madie. And afterwards, we are taking the kids to 'Boo at the Park' in a little area of Central Park. Every year they set up part of the park and decorate it with tons of decorations and you walk through it. It's supposed to be scary for kids, but not too scary. And they have some games and little things set up."

"Who's we?"

"Kurt, Blaine, Brittany, Santana, and all of the kids. We always do the same thing every year."

"That sounds like a lot of fun! But do we have to dress up again? That costume was really tight and really uncomfortable."

Rachel laughed loudly. "No, we don't have to dress up."

"Good."

"So have you played that new game I got you?" Rachel asked as they checked on the kids playing Xbox.

Finn's eyes lit up. "_Of course. _I love it."

"I'll never understand men and their video games." Rachel shook her head.

"Don't knock it, 'til you try it babe." Finn joked.

"It's just Xbox. How fun can it be?"

"Want to find out?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Not rea—"

Finn grabbed Rachel's hand and led her to the couch. He asked the kids if they could play and tossed a controller to Rachel. She grimaced at the thing. "I have absolutely no idea what any of these buttons do."

Finn shook his head as he proceeded to _try_ to show her what each button did.

"So the objective of the game is to find and kill the other person? Isn't that a little violent?"

Finn rolled his eyes. "C'mon Rach. Just walk around and try to find me. I'll go easy on you."

Rachel gave a huff as she tried to navigate her way around. With a little help from Finn (and some screen cheating) she found him, but he shot her before she even had the chance to do anything.

"Finn!"

"Rachel!" Finn imitated.

Rachel glared at Finn. "Fine. You're on."

To say Rachel was bad at this game would be an understatement. She was awful and Finn had killed her dozens of times. Eventually, though, she managed to sneak up on him and shoot him. His jaw dropped and he looked wide eyed at Rachel.

"You did it!"

"I did?" She gasped.

"You killed me!"

Rachel bounced up and down, squealing in happiness. "I'm gonna do it again."

When she couldn't do it again, she opted to steal Finn's controller from him so he wouldn't be able to move. Obviously, it didn't work and it just turned into a wrestling war. Rachel held onto the controller as tight as she could as she struggled to get away from Finn. She slipped off the couch and took off running, Finn trailing behind her.

"Give me my controller!" Finn laughed.

"No! Let me kill you again first."

When they ended up back in the living room, Finn gently grabbed her. There was a knock on the door and Finn motioned for the giggling kindergarteners that were watching in amusement to get it because he was too busy. When she still managed to keep the controller away from him, even though she was trapped in his arms, he started tickling her. She screamed, trying to wiggle herself from his embrace to no avail. The tickling did the trick and she finally tossed the controller on to the couch, pushing Finn away.

"Ha!" Finn started to dive for the controller, but stopped when he saw Hannah standing there staring at the two. Rachel fixed her hair and made sure her pants were still on her hips before looking up and smiling at Hannah.

"Oh! Hey Hannah." He smirked. "Wasn't expecting you. I thought you were working."

"Yeah, I thought I would stop by and surprise my _boyfriend_." She exaggerated. She walked around Rachel and gave Finn a kiss. "I brought you a muffin. Your favorite!"

"Yeah, thanks. We already had breakfast but I'll save it for later."

"What are you guys doing?"

"Playing Xbox." Rachel smiled and lifted up a controller.

"It didn't look like you were playing Xbox…"

"Yeah, well Rach sucks at it and couldn't kill me so she decided it would be a good idea to steal my controller. That was me trying to get it back." Finn laughed.

Hannah nodded. "Okay so will someone explain to me why Rachel is wearing your clothes?"

"Finn thought it would be hilarious to spray me with the sink nozzle." Rachel playfully rolled her eyes. "He got me soaking wet so he let me borrow his clothes until mine dry."

"Only because you splashed me!" Finn defended.

"Because you blew soap all over me!"

"Alright, alright. I admit that I started it. And ended it." Finn smiled.

"No, _I _ended it."

"_You _tackled me."

"And you said I win!"

Finn shook his head, chuckling. "I shouldn't have caved in. I could have taken you guys."

"Whatever."

Hannah glared at the two. "Sounds like you've had an eventful morning."

"It was all in good fun." Finn nodded.

"Where are the girls?" Hannah asked.

"Probably in their room." Finn shrugged.

"Their room? What do you mean?"

"The room that I set up for them for when they spend the night." Finn said like it was obvious.

"Can I see it?"

Hannah widened her eyes when she saw the SpongeBob decorated room and the kids scattered around, watching the large T.V hung up on the wall. She eyed the crib and slowly turned around to face Finn. "You did all this?" She asked. Finn plopped down on the bed next to Rachel. "Yeah." He mumbled. He pulled Ava up on to his lap, trying to get her to say his name.

"Madie, guess what?" Finn said, giving up. "Guess who is going to Disney World with you?"

Madie's face lit up. "You?!"

Finn smiled. "Me."

"Really?!" She screeched. "Oh my gosh! You're going to make it even better! We are going to have _so _much fun and we'll meet Mickey and Minnie and _all _of the princesses and we'll go on all the rides and eat tons of candy and swim and have a big huge party!" Madie yelled. Finn laughed loudly, catching the little girl who flew straight into his arms. Hannah watched for all of five seconds before she went all jealous-girlfriend and interrupted them.

"You're going to Disney World _alone _with Rachel?" She asked.

"Uh, well the girls are going to be there so…"

Hannah glared between Rachel and Finn. "In the same hotel room?"

Rachel nodded. "I didn't feel the need to pay for two of them when it wasn't really necessary…"

"We'll talk about this later." Hannah said towards Finn.

Finn raised an eyebrow and looked over at Rachel, who looked super pissed. "Finn, I don't have to work all day and night so I was hoping that you and I could spend some time together. You know… alone." She eyed Rachel.

"That sounds great and all, but I already made plans with Rach."

"What are you guys gonna do?" She accused.

"Just hang out at her apartment and around the city." Finn defended. "I promised her I would spend the day with her."

"Yeah, but don't you think that you should spend the day with your _girlfriend_." Hannah spit back. Why was she acting like this?

"Uh…" Finn started.

"He's allowed to do things without you, Hannah." Rachel spoke up. "Just let him do what he wants."

Hannah rolled her eyes and Finn raised an eyebrow. "Rachel, stay out of this." She spit.

"Hannah." Finn warned. "What's up with you?"

"Sorry baby." She said in a fake voice. "I just want to spend some time with you."

Rachel scoffed. "Finn, I should go. You and Hannah and go ahead and hang out." She said sweetly, being the bigger person. She stood up with Ava in her arms. Finn grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "No, Rach. I promised. Plus you couldn't even go anywhere if you wanted to. You're wearing my clothes." Finn said.

"Could I hang out with you and Rachel today please? I guess I could go without the alone time for today, but _tonight _we will definitely have our adult alone time."

Finn gulped and looked at Rachel for help. When nobody said anything, Hannah continued. "Great! It's settled."

Long story short, Rachel spent the entire day with Hannah and Finn while Hannah tried everything in her power to make Rachel jealous. Everything from holding his hand, to sitting in his lap, to attaching her lips to his whenever she got the chance. She wasn't going to lie, Rachel was pretty damn jealous. But she also wasn't going to lie about the surge of happiness that went through her every time Finn looked annoyed with Hannah, or when he avoided her kisses, or when he sat down next to her instead of Hannah.

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think will happen? :) Will they break up soon? Hmmm... Reviews please! <strong>


	9. Chapter 8

**WOAH okay calm down guys. I understand all of the stuff that you guys said about Finn and Hannah and how you feel bad for Hannah. But you guys didn't give me a chance to post this chapter which clarifies ALL of your concerns. Literally all of the stuff you said about Finn being in the wrong was already written into this chapter! I got it covered! I wasn't planning on posting this chapter so soon after the last one, but I wanted to ease your concerns. Finn and Rachel both realize what they have been doing and Finn finally does something about it! Enjoy!**

Rachel let herself in Finn's apartment, humming happily to herself. She let the door shut loudly behind her and strolled into the living room, her smile automatically falling off of her face when she saw Finn and Hannah kissing on his couch. Rachel cleared her throat, looking down at the floor. Finn immediately detached his lips from Hannah's and stood up from the couch, losing all contact with her. He smiled widely when he saw Rachel standing there. "Hey Rach!"

Hannah turned from her spot on the couch, an angry look on her face. "What are you doing here?" She snapped. "Have you ever heard of knocking?"

"She doesn't have to knock." Finn defended.

"_I _have to knock." Hannah stood up.

"Yeah, but…"

"What if we had been having sex and she just waltzed right in. She isn't respecting your privacy very much."

"Okay, but we weren't, so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I don't want anyone but me to see you in your underwear or without clothes."

Rachel raised an eyebrow and held back a laugh. "It's not like I've never seen him naked before…" Rachel mumbled.

"_Excuse me?_"

Finn widened his eyes at Rachel.

"I-I mean, we were engaged in high school. I feel like it is kind of obvious that since we were engaged, we've probably had sex before… that's all. It's not like it has been anything recent." She tried to fix it.

Finn winced.

"Wait—you two were _engaged_?" Hannah screeched.

Rachel froze. "Shit, sorry… I, um, I thought you knew that."

"So it's true?" Hannah turned to Finn.

"Yeah, we were engaged for a while." He practically whispered.

"I think you should go so I can go back to making out with my boyfriend." Hannah glared.

"Hannah. No, she can stay and hang out."

"It's either she leaves or I leave." Hannah challenged and Finn's face flinched. Before Finn could say which one he chose, Rachel spoke up, fear of him choosing Hannah.

"Its fine, Finn. I'll go. Um, I was just bringing this to you. I know it's your favorite." Rachel set the banana bread down in the kitchen and politely waved before exiting the apartment.

Hannah sighed loudly and plopped down on the couch, patting the spot next to her. "Where were we?"

"Hannah, what the hell was that?"

"What?"

"You were just really rude to Rachel! She didn't have to leave."

"Well I wanted her to." Hannah snapped. Finn gave her a hurt face. "Look Finn, I didn't want it to have to come down to this."

"Come down to what…"

"I think you and I both know that you are little too close to Rachel."

"She's my best friend." Finn defended.

"Shouldn't your best friend be a dude?" Hannah pointed out.

"Well Puck is my guy best friend, but Rachel is my girl best friend. I actually think I'm closer to Rachel but that may just be because I see her every day now and I don't get to see or talk to Puck as much as I'd like but…"

"Finn." Hannah interrupted. "Shouldn't your girl best friend be your _girlfriend_?"

"No, not necessarily."

Hannah looked thoughtful for a second. "It's just that I _know _she's jealous of us and all but she needs to lay off."

"Wait—" Finn tried.

"I would prefer it if she would stop getting in the way of our relationship. You need to be spending more time with me, not her."

"Stop." Finn warned. "Do you not trust me?"

"Well, I mean yeah I do but… but I just have suspicions."

"Like what…"

"Like when she's around you're never affectionate towards me. You barely even touch me. And you two flirt _so damn much. _And you are with her more than you are with me. Add that all together with the history you have together and it just doesn't look good in my eyes."

Finn sighed. "I'm not a cheater, Hannah."

"I didn't say you were. She just needs to lay off."

"No, she doesn't! She's allowed to be my best friend and do best friend things with me." Finn scrabbled.

"God, Finn! You're in denial! Do you really not see it?"

"See what?"

"I know that she is clearly in love with you and I am beginning to think that you feel the same way about her."

Finn was silent for a couple seconds. "Rachel is…is… well she's a lot of things to me. You cannot go all jealous girlfriend and make me choose between you two, because I'm _positive _that you would not like the outcome." He didn't really mean to say it. It just came out.

Hannah glared up at Finn. "I'm going to go home and think for a little while. I'll call you tonight."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Finn opened the door for her.

After Hannah left, Finn laid down on the couch and pulled his phone out, sending a text to Rachel.

* * *

><p>Finn and Hannah had made up after Hannah apologized and said she was being irrational. He told her that she wasn't really, she was right for acting like she did. He was pretty close to Rachel. She came over and they talked and talked and talked about their relationship, Finn having a beer while Hannah had a glass of wine. Hannah admitted that she really was jealous of the relationship he had with Rachel and Finn admitted that he might sometimes take a step out of the friendship zone with her and he will work on putting space in between them. Finn wasn't going to lie, he was having a pretty good time. Hannah was back to her normal self, and she was being really cool. By the end of the night, everything was going really good with them laughing and listening to music and talking, until Finn got a phone call from Rachel and Hannah's whole demeanor changed. "D-do you mind if I take this?" Finn winced. "Or…"<p>

"No, go ahead." Hannah allowed.

"Hey Rach." Finn answered.

"Hey Finny. What're you doing?"

"Hanging out at my place." He glanced at Hannah.

"Can I come over? The girls are at Kurt's and I'm bored." Rachel laughed.

"You can if you want!" He smiled. "Hannah's here."

"Oh."

"Yeah, we were just hanging out and talking. I'm sure she wouldn't mind." He looked over to Hannah for confirmation, but all he saw was an upset look on her face.

"No, I wouldn't want to intrude. You two have fun." Rachel said, trying to sound cheery.

"Rach, c'mon." Finn said. "I thought you were bored."

"I'll find something to do."

"Laundry?" Finn laughed.

"Maybe…" She said quietly.

"If you're sure. But the offer still stands. S'not like you even need permission to come over."

"Thank you Finn, but I'll let you two alone."

"But I'll see you tomorrow though, right?"

"Absolutely." Rachel finally sounded like her normal self.

"Alright, see you then."

Finn hung up and turned back to Hannah, smiling.

"Is she coming over?" Hannah asked with a nasty tone.

"Nah, she's got some laundry to do."

"Good. I like spending time with just you." Hannah smiled as innocently as possible.

"Yeah…" Finn chuckled.

"C'mere. Come closer to me, Finn." Hannah spoke, her voice was low.

* * *

><p>"Finn, <em>why <em>the hell did you just knock on my door?" Rachel whined, leaving the door open and walking back into the living room. Finn didn't say anything, but slowly walked inside and joined Rachel on the couch. "Haven't we already established that neither of us have to knock?"

Finn nodded and gazed down at the floor.

"Everything okay?" Rachel wondered.

"Um…" Finn tried.

"Finn, I know you and I know that you're not okay." Rachel scooted closer to him.

Finn looked down at her big eyes. "I love that you know me so well."

Rachel shrugged. "You're my best friend. It's my job."

"Yeah, but you know me better than anyone else—except my mom."

"Yeah…" Rachel scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Hannah doesn't even really know me at all. Like she knows things about me, but she doesn't really _know _me. Isn't that a little weird? I mean my girlfriend is supposed to know pretty much everything about me."

Rachel looked up at Finn, confused. "I guess."

Finn gazed back at the floor thoughtfully for a while.

"Finn, what is going on?" Rachel pressed.

"So why was it again that you got so angry with me a while ago? When you didn't talk to me for a week?"

Rachel sighed. "I was never angry with you. I was just—" She stopped herself.

"Just what? Jealous?" Finn pushed.

Rachel looked away from him. "No… I had no right to be jealous. You're my best friend."

"Yeah, but you_ were _jealous."

"Finn." Rachel sighed.

"C'mon Rach. Don't think I don't notice the glares that you gave Hannah, or the not-so-subtle eye rolls when I talk about her, or the grimace that you have when I kiss her."

Rachel didn't respond, staring straight ahead at the muted T.V. "Well she doesn't have to be so rude to me. She has been kind of a bitch lately."

"You're right." Finn nodded. "So why?" He asked.

"Why has she been a bitch? I don't know, ask her."

"No, why were you jealous?"

"I don't know… Like I said, I didn't want to lose you."

Finn made a thoughtful face.

"So it has nothing to do with the feelings that you have for me?" Finn pointed out.

Rachel whipped her head around to look up at Finn. "W-what? No… what are you talking about?"

Finn shrugged. "You tell me." He challenged.

Rachel shook her head and looked away.

"I'm not ready to be committed again." Rachel said after several minutes of silence.

"I know." Finn said.

"So let's just leave it at that."

"But you never denied your feelings towards me." Finn stated.

"_Finn_." Rachel warned.

"I'm just stating a fact." He said. "It's a good fact. It means I made the right decision."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked quietly. She hated Finn doing this to her.

"Well, as you know, Hannah and I have had some relationship trouble lately. After the whole fiancé thing, we made up and talked for a really long time and things were looking good. Now, I'm only telling you this because I trust you, but Hannah and I hadn't had sex in about two months."

Rachel raised her eyebrows with surprise and leaned back a little bit.

"So we started to, you know, get things going the night that we made up and—"

"Okay, I do _not _want to hear about you having sex with Hannah. I'm sorry, I know that's the duty of the best friend but I will not listen to that. Call Puck."

Finn chuckled. "Relax Rach. Let me finish." He grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and pulling her closer.

"It was… how do I put this… it was awful."

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "W-why?"

"I-I don't know. But, it was so incredibly awkward the entire time. I didn't even get off. And it took me a long ass time before I even got a Bo—"

"I got it." Rachel stopped him.

"But you know that's not normal for me."

Rachel blushed and nodded. "I'm sorry." She said.

"No you're not." Finn said.

"So… what does this have to do with anything?"

Finn sighed, his chest heaving. He squeezed Rachel's hand super hard as he looked down at his lap. "I broke up with her." Rachel barely managed to hear the words come out of his mouth.

"Oh my god." Rachel immediately wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, Finn. I-I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Finn didn't answer, just shoved his face into Rachel. She cradled his large form, running her hands through his hair. She couldn't tell if he was crying or not, but nonetheless she still continued to whisper kind words to him and stroke his hair and back until he looked up.

"I'm fine." He whispered. Rachel used her thumb to wipe away a stray tear. "God, I am such a baby. I'm the one who broke up with her, I shouldn't be crying."

"No, Finn. You have every right to cry. You two were together for a long time and you really cared for her."

Finn nodded. "I don't regret anything. It needed to happen." He shook his head. "It's just hard."

"I know, Finn. I know."

"I don't really want to talk about it all right now. Will you sing to me?" Finn looked over at her with watery eyes. "I-I know it's dumb, but your voice always makes me feel better." Finn laid his head in Rachel's lap and she ran her hands gently through his hair as she began to sing softly. After a couple of songs, he had fallen peacefully asleep. Rachel didn't know what to do. She didn't want to wake him, but her legs were asleep and she needed to pee. She gently moved his head and got up swiftly, smiling to herself when he didn't stir.

* * *

><p><em>Finn and Hannah sat in silence, each on opposite sides of the room. <em>

_"__Are you going to say something or are you just going to stare into space forever?" Hannah snapped._

_"__I think we should break up." Finn spoke suddenly. He didn't dare to look in her direction. Hannah sat, jaw dropped, eyes wide, staring at Finn. "You what?"_

_"__I think that we should break up." Finn said, louder this time. He finally looked over at her and he felt his chest tighten when he saw the look on her face. _

_"__No—no you don't. Y-you're just saying that because of the bad sex. It is okay Finn, everyone has bad nights. I—"_

_"__It's not because of the sex." Finn said, cutting her off._

_"__Is it because of her?" Hannah spit out._

_Finn was silent for a while, eyes darting all over the place. "I—we just haven't been in sync lately. We are always fighting and I'm tired of it. I just don't think that we should be together anymore. It's not working."_

_"__Finn, it's been over a _year. _We have fought before and we always get through it. We are just having a rough patch. All couples have rough patches. I'll get over your inappropriate relationship with Rachel. You need to think this through. I _know _that this is not what you really want. You are just caught up in the moment. We had a bad night with the sex and—"_

_"__It's not about the damn sex, Hannah. Sure, it might have been the final draw, but it's not the whole reason. I'm not caught up in the moment. This is what I want."_

_"__No, Finn. We are not breaking up."_

_"_Yes _we are Hannah. You can't sit here and tell me that you still feel the same way about me that you did a year ago. Things have changed, we have changed. And not for the better. Nothing has been very right between us for a while and it's time for one of us to finally do something about it."_

_"__Nothing has been the same between us since Rachel showed back up in your life!" Hannah stood up, yelling. "I've seen this coming since the very first time I even laid eyes on the two of you together."_

_Finn closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "This is it, Hannah."_

_"__No." She pointed at him, tears pouring from her eyes. "No, Finn. We can get through this. Talk to me. Tell me why you want to break up. Tell me that you are in love with her."_

_"__I'm tired of tiptoeing around you. You're always down my damn throat about something and I can never win. You hold grudges forever and I can't do anything without you scrutinizing me. And I know you don't realize it, but you treat me like shit sometimes. You act like I'm dumb and can't think for myself. You act like you fucking own me. I'm sick of it. I don't want to be on your leash anymore, Hannah. You can't keep telling me what to do. We are done."_

_"__Do you ever stop and think about _why _I treat you like that? Because when you aren't with me, you're with Rachel and when you are with me you are talking about Rachel. That doesn't make me feel good, Finn." Hannah stood there, glaring at him, tears still falling from her cheeks. "You know, I've thought about breaking up with you a million times." She said in a low tone, throwing her head into her hands. "Because of Rachel."_

_Finn flinched._

_"__But I could never bring myself to do it. Because I love you." She looked up at him._

_"__I know…" Finn spoke._

_"__I always knew you would choose her. God, I don't know why I even let myself hang on to you for so long when you have been out of this relationship for three months. Do you really not see it? Do you really not see what you have been doing to me? You're in denial! I should be the one breaking up with you for the way that you've acted."_

_Finn was quiet. _

_"__I have had every right to be upset with you and Rachel. Every. Damn. Right. You spend all of your fucking time with that family. I'm lucky if I get to see you every other day. Your relationship with her is not okay while you are dating someone else. I don't know what goes on while I'm not there, but when I am there, it seems as though you two are dating and I'm just the awkward third wheel. With all the flirting and touching and you're going on a fucking vacation with her? I'm so fed up with it, but she makes you happy and I didn't want to take that away from you. I don't know if you just can't see it or you're playing dumb but I'm glad that you finally came to your senses. It's frustrating that it came to you breaking up with me, but I guess you've made your choice."_

_"__Hannah." _

_"__I'll go. You can think about this."_

_"__You're right."_

_"__Huh?" Hannah stopped._

_"__You're right. My actions have been inappropriate."_

_Hannah raised her eyebrows, clearly not expecting that reaction._

_"__And I realized it the other day. I even talked to Rachel about it. I-I guess that's kind of what led to this. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way that I acted. Yes, Rachel and I flirt… a lot. I should have done this a long time ago. You don't deserve to be thrown around like that."_

_"__Thank you." She nodded. "Thank you for owning up to it."_

_"__But this still doesn't change anything. I still want to break up."_

_"__Why don't I go, and you can spend the night thinking about it."_

_"__Hannah, there is nothing to think about. We are done." _

_"__So that's it?" She was in tears. "Just like that, we are done? After sixteen months together, after all the memories we share, the I love you's, and the laughter. That's it?"_

_"__I still love and care for you, Hannah."_

_"__Oh, I'm just feeling the love right now." She said, bitterly._

_"__This is hard for me too, Hannah! I am just trying to do what's best for both of us. This relationship isn't it." _

_She stood there, not sure what to do with herself._

_"__We can still be friends—"_

_"__Don't you fucking dare." Hannah screeched. Her whole demeanor changed._

_Finn winced. "We live in the same apartment building."_

_"__I don't care." Hannah waved. "We are either together or not at all." _

_"__Okay." He croaked. _

_She glared at him. "I can't believe you are doing this to me."_

_"__I'm sorry."_

_"__Save it." She held up a hand. "I'm leaving." She turned on her heel and walked towards the door. "Just tell me one thing. Did you sleep with her?"_

_Finn widened his eyes. "No! No, Hannah, I didn't cheat on you. We never even kissed. We might have possibly almost kissed, I'm not really too sure, but that's not the point."_

_She looked at him with defeat before wiping her tears and taking a deep breath. "Have a good life with little miss perfect." Hannah slammed the door shut behind her._

* * *

><p>Rachel was in the kitchen, humming to herself, making the girls and Finn some lunch. She jumped when she heard his voice behind her.<p>

"Oh my, Finn! You scared me. I didn't hear you wake up." She placed her hand over her chest.

"Sorry." He stood there in the doorway awkwardly.

"You hungry? I'm making grilled cheese and tomato soup."

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Come sit." She guided. She gave him the already finished one with a glass of water and smiled sadly when he began eating slowly. "You doing okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine." He mumbled. "Where are the girls?"

"They're both asleep right now. They should be waking up in a few minutes."

He nodded and silently finished his sandwich. The girls woke up and ate their lunch while Finn sat on the couch staring into space, the T.V on in the background.

"Is Finn okay, mommy?" Madie asked as they ate.

"Yeah, he'll be okay. He's just a little sad right now."

"Can I give him a hug?"

"When you're finished eating." Rachel said.

So, she did just that. She walked up to him cautiously. "Hi Finn." She spoke. He looked over at the little girl and gave her a small smile—it was the first real smile Rachel had seen from him all day. "Hey sweetheart." Madie climbed on the couch and into his lap, wrapping her arms around him. "Mommy said you were sad. I wanted to give you a hug to cheer you up. Hugs always make me feel better."

Finn smiled and squeezed the little girl to him. "Thank you Madie."

"I love you, Finn."

Finn closed his eyes, a tear falling down his cheek. "I love you so much, Madie." She backed out of his embraced and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Feel better." She smiled as she climbed down and skipped towards the stairs. Rachel stood in the doorway, a tear of her own falling. She placed Ava down in her playpen and sat on the couch next to Finn.

"Can I get you anything?"

Finn shook his head. "Sit with me?"

"Of course." She nodded, scooting closer to him. "Of course."

They sat through an entire movie, neither of them really watching it. It was then that Finn finally spoke up. "She thought that I was cheating on her with you."

Rachel whipped her head around. "What?"

"S-she didn't like the way that we were around each other. And I get it. I get why she was acting the way she was. You know? Like all the stuff we talked about the other day."

Rachel nodded, her eyes falling to her lap.

"I should have broken up with her a long time ago. I feel awful."

"No, Finn. It's okay. Y-you didn't know what you wanted."

He shook his head, throwing his head into his hands.

"So, you broke up with her? Or she broke up with you?"

"I think I broke up with her." Finn's muffled voice said. "But she pointed out a bunch of stuff that I've done wrong and she's right Rach. I've treated her like shit." A tear slid down his face.

"Oh Finn." Rachel maneuvered so that she could get a tight grip on him. "Finn." He shoved his face into her shirt, tears spilling out. "It's okay." He continued crying into her shirt. "It's okay, just let it all out." And he did. He cried until he couldn't anymore. When he finally looked up at her, his eyes were red and puffy. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This is what I'm here for."

"Thank you."

"Anything for you, Finn." Rachel smiled as she quoted Finn. He gave her a small smile.

"C-can I… Do you mind if I could possibly stay here for a few days? I don't really want to go back to the complex just yet. I know I still need to talk to her and apologize more, but not right now. I was going to ask Kurt, but—"

"Absolutely." Rachel said without a beat. "Stay here as long as you want."

"Thank you." He pulled her back into a hug, placing a barely-there kiss to her hair. "Thank you so much."

"Will you do me a favor?" Finn asked.

"Anything." Rachel responded.

"Will you call my mom? She's been calling me since last night and I haven't answered. I don't want her to worry."

"Sure, Finn. Do you want me to tell her what happened?"

"Yeah." Finn nodded. "Just let her know a little bit of what is going on."

"I'll be right back." Rachel grabbed his phone and went into the kitchen, sitting down on a stool in the kitchen.

"Finn! Are you okay, honey? I must've called you ten times." Carole asked when she answered.

"Hi Mrs. Hudson. It's Rachel."

"Oh, Rachel! Hello sweetheart, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty well. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. Is Finn alright?"

"Well, actually he wanted me to call and tell you what's been going on and why he hasn't been answering your calls."

"Oh god, is he okay?"

"He's fine, but he's having a hard time right now." Rachel spoke. "Um, he broke up with Hannah last night."

She heard Carole gasp on the other line. "Oh, Finny. Oh my baby, is he okay? What happened?"

"I don't really know all of the details, but all I know is that he told her they should break up which turned into a huge fight and all. He's pretty upset about it, but keeps saying that he doesn't regret it. They've been having problems for a while and he said that it needed to be done."

"I knew that they have been fighting a little bit, but I didn't know that it was this bad!"

"Yeah, I think that there was a lot going on behind the scenes that none of us really knew about." Rachel agreed.

"My poor Finny. And this happened last night?"

"Yeah, I believe so. He came over at nine or so this morning and told me. He was so upset and it was so heart wrenching to watch him like that. I know it sounds silly, but I sang to him until he fell asleep. He slept for a couple hours and then I made him something to eat. We watched a couple movies and we talked a bit and now he's resting again. He's going to stay here for a few days just because he's not really in the mood to run into her at his complex. I think he'll be okay in a couple days."

"Oh, Rachel honey, you are so good to him. Thank you so much. If I couldn't be there with him, I'm glad that you are."

"I'm happy to do it." Rachel smiled.

"Well even if it was hard, I'm proud of Finn. I would never say this while they were dating, but I could never really see them with a future together. And every time I would bring up their future, he would get so uncomfortable. I could tell that he didn't see a future with her either."

Rachel smiled. Carole really did know her son.

"I'm glad he came to his senses. Hannah never really was my favorite of Finn's girlfriends. She was kind of rude and a bit full of herself."

Rachel let out a giggle. "Right?"

"My favorite was always you. I'm so glad you and Finn are friends again."

Rachel smiled widely. "Yeah? I was your favorite?"

"Oh, absolutely! You're the daughter I never had."

"It means so much to hear that, Mrs. Hudson."

"Stop calling me that! It makes me sound old." Carole laughed.

"Sorry." Rachel laughed back.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"Uh, no, I'm not." Rachel responded.

"Mm." Carole gave. "Well maybe now that Finn's single you can—"

"Carole…" Rachel started.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, it was worth a try. Just think about it."

"Okay." Rachel laughed.

"Well thank you so much for calling me, Rachel. Are you coming for Thanksgiving?"

"I believe so." Rachel said. "Still waiting to hear from my producer though."

"Alright, well hopefully I will see you then! Tell Finny I love him."

"Will do."

"Bye Rachel!"

* * *

><p>Rachel left a couple hours early before her show on Thursday. She had told Finn that she had some errands that she needed to run. She had something really important she needed to do. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. The woman answered the door quickly, her face full of surprise.<p>

"Rachel? What are you doing here?"

"Hi Hannah." Rachel gave a small smile. "I-um, can we talk?"

Hannah thought about it for a second before opening the door up more and allowing the smaller woman in. Rachel entered politely, admiring the apartment.

"Is Finn okay?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah." Rachel gave a sympathetic smile. "He's fine."

"So?" Hannah spoke, clearly uncomfortable. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I came to apologize."

Hannah raised her eyebrows to show she was listening.

"I'd like to think that we were friends at one time. Then things got tense and we both started acting a little bitchy and—"

"Things got tense when you started trying to steal my boyfriend." Hannah spoke. "Congratulations. It worked."

"No!" Rachel started. "I-I was not by any means trying to steal your boyfriend. Neither of us really realized what we were doing… I knew that sometimes we acted outside of the friend zone, but I never intentionally tried to steal him away from you in any way. I came to apologize for the way that we—or _I, _have acted. I would react the exact same way if I were in your position. I just wanted to clarify everything and let you know that Finn really did love you. He really did talk about you a lot and when you were going through things he was always trying to come up with ways to fix it. Me being around him didn't change any of that. I understand all of your anger and I just really want you to know that we are sorry. But please don't take it out on Finn. If you want to be angry with anyone, be angry with me."

"I am angry with you." Hannah nodded.

"And you have every right to be."

Hannah crossed her arms. "Is that all?"

"I guess so…" Rachel looked a little hurt. She at least wanted Hannah to talk to her a little.

"Then I think you should leave." Hannah said, quietly. "Thank you for the apology."

Rachel gave her a small smile and slowly stepped out of the apartment. At least she tried.

* * *

><p>Finn stayed at Rachel's until Thursday night after her show. He figured she had enough to deal with and didn't need him slumping around her apartment. He really was feeling better though. Rachel had been wonderful and understanding and the girls always made him felt better. Plus, work kept him distracted. One thing that was really bothering him though was that Hannah kept calling him. She called at <em>least <em>ten times a day, leaving a voicemail with each one. Not to mention all the text messages she had sent him as well.

_Finn, we need to talk._

_Where are you, Finn?_

_Finn answer me please_

_Please call me when you get the chance_

_I know you're working, but I need to talk to you_

_I miss you_

_Finn, you haven't been home in three days. Please just let me know that you are okay._

And so on and so on. He knew they probably needed to talk, just to clear things up. But, he needed some time before he could do that. Then, Thursday night, when he finally went home, she began knocking on his god damn door. _Fuck. _


	10. Chapter 9

**Hello! Here is the next chapter :) This is just kind of a filler chapter with random stuff. It leads to something big in the next chapter though :) Enjoy! **

* * *

><p>Finn managed to get through the next week okay. He still needed to talk to Hannah, but still didn't think he really was ready yet. He saw her a couple times in the lobby and, yeah, it was hard, but it wasn't <em>as <em>hard. He was able to go on with his day and not look back.

It was the day of SpongeBob on ice and the girls had spent the night with Finn because it was Halloween the night before and Madie just _had _to sleep in her SpongeBob bed at Finn's because she was SpongeBob for Halloween. Whatever. Rachel walked through Finn's door on Saturday morning with a huge smile on her face, catching him as he was walking past.

"Hey Finn." Rachel smiled.

Finn smiled and pulled her further inside by her arm. When he had the door shut, he spun her around and pulled her into his bare chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he said, "I thought that you were Hannah. She's been just walking right on in a couple times."

Rachel laughed into his chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I guess it is okay." He joked.

"It better be." She slowly started pulling away from him. "What time are we leaving?"

"Soon."

"Where are my daughters?" Rachel wondered.

"They are still asleep." Finn said, pointing towards the kid's room. "Wanna go wake them up?"

Rachel nodded and walked down the hall and into the room. Ava was already awake and standing up in her crib. Her arms automatically shot out when she saw them enter the room and Rachel reached down, picking her up and whispered some good morning's into her ear. She looked down at the twin bed and saw Madie sound asleep underneath the SpongeBob blanket. Rachel bent down beside the bed and gently rubbed her daughter's back. "Madie, sweetie it's time to wake up." Rachel whispered. Madie slowly opened her eyes and started to turn over and sit up. "Hey precious. Did you have fun?" Rachel asked. Madie sleepily nodded her head and wrapped her tiny arms around her mother. Madie slowly got down from the bed and she went straight for Finn with her arms up in the air. He swung her up onto his hip and rubbed her back lovingly. Rachel's legs went to jelly at the sight.

"I'm tired." Madie said, resting her head on Finn's shoulder.

"You stayed out late last night." Rachel said.

"Come on, you gotta wake up! It's a big day my little pop star!" Finn bounced her up and down.

Rachel's heart swelled at Finn calling Madie _his _little pop star.

"Mads, we gotta leave soon. We wouldn't want to keep SpongeBob waiting." Rachel said.

* * *

><p>When Finn and Rachel could finally pry Madie and Ava out of the venue of SpongeBob on Ice, they all went back to Rachel's apartment. "I got a letter from Lima, Ohio." Rachel said in question as she was looking through her mail.<p>

"Really? Who is it from?"

"I don't know. The address looks familiar, but I don't remember."

Finn shrugged as they walked off of the elevator. When they got inside the apartment, Madie went to play upstairs while Rachel put Ava down for a nap and then joined Finn on the couch. Rachel slowly opened the mail from Lima, and discovered an invitation on the inside.

"Oh, it's the invitation for our class reunion!"

"Really? When is it?" Finn asked.

"Saturday, November 23. That's the Saturday before Thanksgiving."

"Can you make it that weekend? Do you have a show?" Finn asked, worried.

"Nope. I have the whole week of Thanksgiving off including both of the weekends. Just found out last night." Rachel grinned.

"Really?!" Finn asked, getting excited.

"No Finn, I'm lying to you." Rachel said sarcastically.

"No need for sarcasm." Finn smiled. "I have that whole week off too. I was thinking about going to Lima for part of that week anyways, but now that the reunion is the weekend before, I think that I will just go that whole week."

"That sounds like a great plan. Can I get in on that?" Rachel smiled.

"Of course you can."

"Yay!" Rachel clapped. "I called my dad's last night to tell them, but they unfortunately won't be home until Thursday morning and then they gotta leave again Friday afternoon." She frowned. "They said they'll leave me a key, though."

Finn frowned, too. "Or you could just stay with us. I'm sure there is plenty of room."

"But I'll have the girls with me and I don't want to do that to your mother."

"Oh please, Rach. My mom would _love _it."

Rachel winced. "I don't know…"

"You're not staying by yourself all week."

"If Carole says its okay, then I'll do it." Rachel finally agreed.

"Deal."

"I'm so excited!" Rachel squealed.

"Me too, babe." Finn winked, playfully. Rachel knew that he was just messing around, but there was something about him calling her babe that made her want to melt.

"Okay it's at McKinley in the gym and it starts at 8:00 p.m. And it says that they are combining the classes of 2012 and 2013 into one reunion. That means that everyone from glee should be invited! Do you think everyone will come?" Rachel asked, getting excited.

"I hope so." Finn smirked.

She watched him carefully as he pulled out his cell phone and face timed his mom.

"Hello?" Carole asked as she looked into the camera.

"Hey mom!" Finn smiled.

"Finny! How are you honey? You feeling better?"

"I'm good, Mom. You?"

"Oh, I'm great. I've been packing a lot though. We are moving back to Lima next weekend." She moved the camera so that he could see all of the boxes.

"Really? Do you need my help? I can fly there and help you guys!"

"No, Finn. We're Fine. Where are you at? Is that your apartment? I still haven't seen it yet!"

"I'm at Rachel's right now." Finn said, moving so that Rachel was in the shot. "Hi Carole!" Rachel waved.

"Oh, hello dear! What are you two up to?"

"We just got back from seeing SpongeBob on Ice." Finn chuckled.

"Well that isn't a very romantic place for a date, Finn." Carole smirked.

Rachel blushed and put a smile on her face. "We took Madie for her birthday."

"Madie?" Carole asked in wonder.

"My daughter." Rachel smiled.

"Ah, I see. That was sweet of you. Did she have fun?"

"Tons." Finn smiled. "I'll send you a picture."

"That's good."

"So, we just got our invitation for our class reunion. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving and both Rach and I have off so we were thinking about staying that entire week. What do you think?" Finn smirked.

"Really? Yes, yes, yes! That would be awesome! What about Kurt and Blaine? Are they coming for the whole week also?"

"We haven't talked to them yet. They will probably want to go to the reunion and I know that they want to come down for Thanksgiving, so most likely." Finn shrugged.

"Well this is going to be _so much _fun. I miss you guys!"

"I miss you too, mom. But listen, Rachel's dads will be out of town until Thursday morning and I don't really want to her stay at her house alone so—"

"Oh, she can stay with us!" Carole didn't even let him finish the sentence.

"Are you sure, Carole? I have my two little girls and I wouldn't want to be a burden."

"Absolutely. It's settled, you are staying with us! I can't wait to meet your little girls! Finn won't stop talking about them."

Rachel smiled over at Finn, a look of adoration on her face. "Thank you so much, Carole."

"The more the merrier!" Carole smiled widely. "So, what's going on with you? What have you been up to?"

"Nothing, really. Just been working and hanging out with my little diva." Finn smiled and Rachel laughed.

Carole smiled at her son and his ex-fiancé. "So everything is okay with… she who shall not be named."

"Mom, everything is fine with _Hannah._" Finn laughed. "I'm doing great. She won't leave me alone though…"

"Well, who would? You're such a great man, Finny."

"Thank you, mom." Finn laughed.

"Well I'm sorry that you've had a rough couple of weeks. It really sucks when you break up with someone."

"It does, but I'm glad it happened. I needed to move to other things and people." Finn smirked.

"Like?"

Finn shrugged and winked at Rachel, causing her blush harder than she ever has. He looked back over to Carole's amused face. Before Finn could say anything more, Madie came flying down the stairs screaming about something. Rachel and Finn both turned their heads quickly.

"What's going on?" Carole asked.

"Mads, calm down." Rachel said. "Why are you screaming? Please don't wake Ava up."

"Mommy, there's a _huge _spider in the playroom." Madie yelled.

Finn tried to hold back his laughs. "She is just like you, Rach." He laughed.

"Huge, huh? Well maybe if you ask nicely, Finn will go kill it for you." Rachel said, ignoring his extremely true comment.

"What? Me?" Finn asked.

"Are you scared, Finny?" Rachel said in a sarcastic voice.

"No, I'm not scared. Are you?" Finn asked.

"I am." Rachel said proudly. "I _hate _spiders."

Finn got up off the couch and said, "Here, hold my mom."

Rachel giggled at the way that sounded and followed Finn and Madie up the stairs.

"From what I can see Rachel, you have a very nice place." Carole laughed.

"Thank you." Rachel smiled.

"It looks like you guys are busy right now, so I'll let you go. Call me later!"

"Bye mom!" Finn yelled.

"Bye Carole!" Rachel said, before hanging up the phone and walking into the playroom.

"Alright, where is this spider?" Finn asked.

Madie cautiously led him over to where she found it and pointed it out. Finn looked underneath one of the toys that was laying on the floor and saw the spider. She wasn't exaggerating, the spider was huge. "Holy shit." Finn whispered.

"Is it big?" Rachel asked.

"It's very big."

Rachel made a face and led Madie out of the room.

"Thanks, Rach." Finn laughed.

"What? I'm just trying to protect my daughter." Rachel smirked.

Finn shook his head, charged out of the room, and straight to Rachel. She screamed as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Finn!" She laughed. "What in the hell are you doing?"

Finn held her tighter by the back of her thighs and walked into the playroom. "Shh. Don't wake up Ava." Finn laughed. He quickly walked over to where the spider was and Rachel started freaking out.

"No, no, no Finn. Don't you dare." Rachel laughed.

He shifted Rachel so that he was holding her bridal style, and he slowly started bending down towards the large spider. Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face in his shirt. "Finn, I'm going to kill you."

Madie stood in the door way laughing, and Rachel managed to hop out of Finn's arms. Her foot brushed against a toy as she landed on the floor and the spider started crawling. Rachel screamed and jumped towards Finn's back. Luckily, he caught her and held her up so that her legs were wrapped around his waist from behind. He laughed loudly as he chased the spider and eventually stepped on it. When he removed his foot he looked behind him to where Rachel was hiding her face in the back of his shoulder and said, "Better?"

She looked down and saw the dead spider on the ground. She took a deep breath and looked over towards Finn's face which was way closer to hers than she thought. "That was not cool." Rachel whispered. "No, but it was funny." Finn whispered back. Rachel smiled as her eyes flickered down to his lips. She looked back up to his eyes through her long eyelashes and watched as his eyes flickered down just as hers did.

"It's not dead yet!" Madie yelled, causing them to look away from each other. Rachel looked down, tightening her grip on Finn and saw it starting to slowly move. Finn stepped on it a couple more times before it was really dead. He walked out of the playroom, let Rachel slide down from him, and went to get some toilet paper to pick up the dead spider with. When the insect was down the toilet, Madie continued to play in the playroom while Finn and Rachel resumed their position on the couch.

Just as Rachel was going to play their movie, there was a loud knock on the door. "Ugh." Rachel threw her head back in annoyance. She looked over at Finn and jutted her lip out. "Pretty pretty please…"

"Fine." Finn laughed. "But only because I can't say no to that puppy face."

"Good to know." Rachel laughed, biting her lip. Finn stood up, throwing a couch pillow in Rachel's direction as he went to answer the door. He swiftly opened the door and frowned when he saw the patronizing man standing on the other side. The man glared at Finn, his cheeky smile promptly falling.

Finn was not in the least happy to see this man. "May I help you?"

"Is Rachel here?" Jack demanded.

Finn opened his mouth to say something rude, but decided against it. "Why do you ask?"

"I need to speak with her."

Finn clenched his jaw. "Fine." He opened the door wider and allowed the smaller man to come in.

"Rach, Jeff is here!" Finn said loudly.

"Who?" Rachel questioned, getting up off of the couch. The man turned around and glared at Finn. "It's Jack."

"Whoops, my bad." Finn said, sarcastically.

Rachel approached the two men, trying to stifle her giggle from Finn purposely messing up Jack's name. She knows that Finn doesn't think too highly of him, especially ever since the whole karaoke incident. All the times that they've spoken since then, Jack has been a giant asshole to Finn. It hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows with Rachel and Jack either. After the karaoke night, Rachel made it _very _clear that she was upset with him and that she doesn't think of him in any other way other than her cast mate. All he has been trying to do ever since is get back on her good side and try to move past the friend zone. Clearly, he hasn't had much luck.

"Hey beautiful." Jack smiled. "How is my Fanny?" He went in to give her a deep hug, one which Rachel didn't reciprocate.

"I'm fine, Jack. What do you want?"

"Can a woman's husband not stop by just to chat?"

"You are not my husband. You're my _stage _husband."

"Not really much of a difference."

"There's a huge difference."

Jack accepted his defeat. "Do you want to take a walk?"

"No, thank you." Rachel declined. "Finn and I were about to watch a movie."

Jack glared between the two of them. "I'll just watch with you, then."

"Well—" Rachel began, but Jack was already on his way to the living room. He sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him. "Come on, Rachie-poo. Sit next to me!"

Finn slumped down onto the loveseat and sighed deeply, swinging his legs up so he was laying down, facing the television. "I'm good." Rachel shook her head and crawled over Finn, laying down so that she was snuggled up to him, wedged between his body and the back of the loveseat. She moved his arms so that they were around her body and she leaned up and whispered in his ear, "Just go with it and he'll leave." Finn smirked and pulled Rachel closer to him as she pressed play.

Madie appeared several minutes later. "What are _you _doing here?" She spit at Jack. Jack looked from the little girl to the two people snuggled up on the loveseat and sighed. "I was just leaving, actually. I forgot about something that I need to do."

"Bye." Madie exaggerated, stomping her little foot.

"Oh, and Rachel? I came over to tell you that our next cast dinner is tomorrow night."

"And you couldn't just call or text?" Finn asked.

"I was in the neighborhood and…"

"Thank you Jack. I'll think about it." Rachel said reluctantly. She skipped out on the last one, fear of the karaoke thing happening again, so she hasn't been to one in a while.

"Do you want me to come and pick you up?"

"I can get there on my own. Or Finn will bring me." Rachel assured.

Jack tightened his lips and nodded. "Okay. I hope to see you tomorrow night then."

"So are you really going to go?" Finn asked.

Rachel shrugged and looked at him thoughtfully. "Well I do miss hanging out with my cast. I haven't done it in a while…"

Finn nodded.

"But I'll only go if you go with me." Rachel made clear.

Finn cocked his head to the side. "I thought it was a cast party though?"

"Yeah, but people bring their boyfriends or girlfriends or spouses with them all the time." Rachel looked away from Finn. He raised his eyebrows at her, a smirk growing on his face. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I brought my best friend." She quickly added.

"Okay."

"So you'll go with me?"

"I wouldn't miss it."

* * *

><p>Hannah had caught Finn in the lobby of his building and asked him if they could talk yet again. This time, he decided to finally give in to her and agreed to dinner at his apartment. No matter what, it was not a date for him. He did not have <em>any <em>intentions on getting back together with Hannah, but he knew that's what she wanted to talk about. He thought that if he just went ahead and got it over with, then maybe she will realize that they are not meant for each other and finally leave him alone. Or, it could be the total opposite of that and she will obsess over him even more. Hopefully that wouldn't happen. She got there at around 6:00 p.m. on Friday night and Finn had dinner ready. They ate while Hannah talked the whole time. Finn wasn't ready to talk just quite yet. She talked about how much she missed and loved him. She kept trying to get closer to him and touch him, but Finn wasn't having any of it. He could tell that she was getting quite agitated with him, but he didn't care. To help with the pounding headache that he had from her talking all night, Finn grabbed himself a beer and sat down on the couch quite a few inches away from her.

They were both silent for long enough to make Finn uncomfortable. "Look, Hannah. I'm sorry. I'm not really sorry for breaking up with you because that really needed to happen, but I'm sorry for the way that I acted during our relationship. I treated you like shit and you kind of got screwed over. And I am truly deeply sorry for that. The second that I felt myself feeling just the slightest bit towards Rachel, I should have either cut that off or broken up with you right then. It really wasn't fair to you. You got the shit end of this whole thing and it sucks that I just now realized it. I really wasn't meaning to drag you along like I did, but I really didn't know what I wanted. I thought I wanted you and I really have thought about spending the rest of my life with you. But, _god, _Rachel. She came into my life a-a-and I turned into the shittiest boyfriend ever. I wouldn't have blamed you for breaking up with me. I may not have realized what I was doing at the time, but I realize it now. I had formed this kind of family unit with Rachel and left you out cold. And I'm sorry."

Hannah was crying. She flung herself at Finn, sobbing into his shirt. He sat, stunned.

"It's okay, Finn. Thank you for finally admitting it. I haven't been all sunshine and rainbows either. I actually may have even pushed you even more towards her. When I began to suspect things, I started acting bitchy and cold instead of actually talking to you about it. I'm sorry too. The demise of our relationship was not completely in your hands. We both had a part."

Finn smirked a little bit and backed out of her embrace, nodding. "It's cool of you to say that."

"So this is really it?"

Finn nodded. "I think this is best for both of us."

"And you're sure that you don't want to just _try _to work through these problems?" Hannah tried.

"Hannah…"

"You really love her, don't you?"

Finn looked up at her with wet eyes. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to.

"What does she have that I don't?"

He sighed and took a swig of his beer. This wasn't going to be an easy conversation.

* * *

><p>On Saturday afternoon, Rachel stopped by Finn's apartment to ask him about his 'date' type thing with Hannah. After they had texted a little the night before while he was still on the date, he hadn't answered any of her texts. And he hadn't answered any of her phone calls that she had been placing to him since 10:00 Saturday morning. She was a little worried, but knew he probably just lost his phone or something. Wouldn't be the first time. She let herself in with her key and was surprised to hear silence. She looked around in the kitchen and living room before she went to Finn's room and quietly knocked on the door. When nobody answered, she slowly opened it until she saw Finn laying down in his bed fast asleep. Rachel quickly went and placed Ava in her crib, then made her way back to Finn's room. She smiled and walked over to the opposite side of the bed, slipping her heels off, and sliding underneath the covers right up next to Finn. She laid on her side, watching him peacefully sleep for a few minutes before she started to softly say his name.<p>

He stirred a little bit before moving his head in the direction of the voice and slowly opening his eyes. He smiled at the face staring back at him and said, "Hey Rach."

"Finn, why in the hell are you still in bed?" Rachel giggled.

"What time is it?" Finn groaned.

"12ish."

"Oh gosh… I guess I was tired."

"From your 'date' last night?" Rachel laughed, scooting closer to him. Finn stretched his arm and let it fall across Rachel's waist.

"It was _not _a date. I made sure she knew that too."

"And did she let off?"

"A little bit. She fought it for a really long time though." Finn chuckled.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it's cool. We talked it all out and I don't think she will be bothering me anymore. At least I hope so."

"Good." Rachel smiled.

"What are you doing in my bed?" He laughed.

"You looked all warm and cozy." Rachel cuddled herself into his chest.

"And am I?"

"You are." She said.

Finn smiled and pushed Rachel so that she was on her back and he was sprawled out on top of her.

"Finn! You're crushing me!" Rachel laughed.

"Are you calling me fat?" He laughed into her ear.

"No, but I am relatively small."

"You're my tiny little angel." He laughed.

Rachel smiled up at him and he slowly rolled off of her, pulling her up against him.

"Where's Madie and Ava?"

"Madie is at a birthday party and Ava is in the other room in her crib."

It was silent for a few moments. "I love cuddling." Rachel yawned.

"Me too, babe_._" Finn said.

* * *

><p>Rachel slowly opened her eyelids to see Finn staring her.<p>

"Hey, sleepy head." Finn smiled.

"What time is it?" Rachel yawned.

"1:00, we both took a little nap."

"I guess we did." Rachel began stretching out her limbs. "And were you watching me sleep?"

"I was." Finn said proudly. "It's one of my favorite things to do."

"Oh, is it?" Rachel smirked.

"It always has been."

Rachel smiled at Finn and slowly sat up. "I need to go pick up Madie."

"Do you wanna go to Times Square and see the posters?" Finn asked.

"The posters are up?!"

"They got put up yesterday. Did Kurt not call you?"

"No! But, yes I want to go!" Rachel clapped and jumped out of the bed. "Come on old man!"

Rachel and Finn walked up the sidewalk and up to the door of the house which was hosting the birthday party. After the host answered the door, she led them into the living room where tons of kids were sitting and playing. "We were actually finishing up our last game if you don't mind waiting. There are some other parents in the kitchen if you want to go talk to them."

"Thank you." Rachel smiled. Finn waved at some kids that he recognized as his students as he walked with Rachel to the kitchen. Rachel spotted Libby, and pointed her out to Finn. They hoped that Hannah wasn't one of the adults that they were about to go join. As Rachel opened the door to the kitchen, they had no such luck. Hannah was standing there with Libby's mom and three other mom's and two dads. She looked up at Rachel and Finn as soon as they entered the room and her smile automatically fell. Finn didn't know what to do, so Rachel grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her.

"Hey everyone." Rachel smiled. She gave the other mom's a hug while Finn lingered behind her, paying attention to Ava in his arms and trying not to look in Hannah's direction.

"I don't know if any of you remember Finn. I mean I guess he's some of your kid's teacher so…" Rachel introduced. Finn gave a small wave before stepping closer to Rachel, making sure that her arm stayed looped through his.

"Hello Finn." Hannah said.

"Hannah." Finn smiled.

"Would the happy couple like some punch?" Hannah asked.

"Oh no, we're not—" Rachel began.

"Oh come on! You don't have to lie! It's so obvious." Hannah said. "I mean, that _is _why you broke up with me isn't it Finn? Because you are in love with her?"

Finn shifted uncomfortably and looked around at all the faces staring at him. She swore she wouldn't say a word to _anyone. _

"I don't think that's any of your business." Rachel said quietly. Why was Hannah being so rude?

"Well I think that it's in everyone's best interest to know who you're dating, Rachel. Finally moving on from your husband?"

"Hannah, stop. Why are you doing this? What happened to last night? I thought we were cool?" Finn asked.

"Well, we're not 'cool'. Just go ahead and tell everyone how you dumped me for your student's mother."

"Come on, Finn. Let's go." Rachel grabbed his hand and led him out of the kitchen. As they were leaving, Rachel could hear Libby's mom telling Hannah that she was being a little rude. Damn straight.

Rachel grabbed Madie and the four of them started walking towards the car.

"Finn!" They heard from behind them. He turned around to see Hannah running towards them. "Finn, can we talk?" She said. Finn glanced down at Rachel. He shrugged at Hannah and said, "Fine, talk."

Hannah looked from Finn to Rachel, who had a strong grip on Finn's hand. "Uh, I-I'm sorry. I was rude."

"Yeah, you were."

"I guess I am just a little jealous." She said.

"You know, I thought that you were different. I thought that you were actually nice and a cool person."

"I am!" Hannah said.

"A cool person doesn't say stuff like that in front of a whole bunch of other people. Especially in front of parents of my students. If one of them complain, then I could get fired, Hannah."

"I'm sorry. I told them that it wasn't true."

Finn turned around and helped Madie and Ava into the car.

"S-She forgot her goodie bag. Here." Hannah handed a pink bag to Rachel. Finn shut the passenger door, went around to the other side to get in, and drove off.

"Well, that went great." Rachel said.

"I don't know why she was being like that." Finn uttered. He shook his head.

"Did you have a good time, Madie?" Rachel asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, it was pretty fun. My birthday party was awesomer though."

"It's more awesome, awesomer isn't a word."

"Well, whatever. Can I please have my goodie bag?" She dug through the bag until she found an item she didn't like. "Momma, I don't like this flavor of lollipop. Do you want it?"

"Sure, baby." Rachel took the sucker from her daughter and stuck it in her mouth, tossing the wrapper in her purse.

Finn could see her licking and sucking on it out of the corner of his eye and was pretty sure that she was trying to torture him on purpose.

"Madie, what would you think about going to see Granddad and Poppy for a whole week for Thanksgiving?"

"Can Finn come?!" Madie asked, immediately.

Rachel smiled. She loved that her daughter's first thought was about Finn. She really did love him.

"I wouldn't miss it, sweetie." Finn smiled.

"Then yay!" Madie clapped.

"Rach, what flavor is that?" Finn asked.

Rachel took the sucker out of her mouth and examined it. "I believe that it's watermelon."

Finn reached over the console, grabbed the sucker and stuck it in his mouth. "Oh, my favorite."

"Finn!" Rachel laughed.

"Ew!" Madie said from the backseat. "Mommy told me that I'm not opposed to share suckers with other people because their spit is all over it."

"It's not like I've never had your mother's spit in my mouth before." Finn mumbled.

Rachel looked at him with wide eyes and smacked him on the arm. She grabbed the stick that was coming from his mouth and placed the sucker back in her own mouth. "Don't steal my sucker." She pouted as Finn gave her a devilish grin.

Finn, Rachel, Ava and Madie walked slowly through Times Square, trying to spot the posters. Madie spotted the first one on one of the big digital boards that changed with advertisements. They stood and watched as 'Hummel Fashion' flashed across the screen with 'New Children's clothing line!' underneath it. The words got smaller and a picture of Madie, Braylon, Hadley, Maddox, and Ava all huddled together came up onto the screen. Rachel was quick to take a picture of it before it faded away.

"Whoa, we were on the board!" Madie screamed.

They all continued walking around until they found another one. This one was an actual poster and was the size of a large banner. It also had the words 'Hummel Fashion', 'Brand new children's line', and the address of the store on it. There was a separate picture of each of the kids on it. Madie was thrilled. Finn and Rachel lined her up so that she was just below the poster and she pointed up at herself. Rachel snapped a picture and they continued on the find the last poster. Kurt had told them that they would be pleasantly surprised and to look above TGI Friday's for it. The three of them walked to the end of Time's Square and looked above the restaurant to see a _huge _poster. It was a picture of Madie in front of a white screen by herself. Her leg was popped and her hands were on her hips. She was the main focus of the whole poster and the only other thing on it besides her was small words that went across the very bottom. Madie was jumping up and down with excitement. Rachel wanted to do the same as her, but she would look a bit weird. Finn found a nice looking stranger and asked if she would take a photo of them with the poster. To be able to get the whole poster in, Finn had to put Madie on his shoulders. He wrapped his free hand around Rachel's waist and she stood up on her tippy toes for the picture, Ava perched on her side.

They decided to go grab a bite to eat inside TGI Friday's while they were right there. While they were waiting, Rachel posted the picture of all four of them on Twitter with the caption, 'Check out this amazing new poster of Madie TIMES SQUARE! Proud Momma :) #HummelFashion'. She slid her phone back into her pocket and looked up to catch Finn staring. She gave him a small smile and tried to hide her blush.

"You posting more things about me on Twitter?" Finn smirked.

"Well it was mostly about Madie, but you were in the picture." Rachel smiled.

Finn lightly shook his head at her.

Rachel rolled her eyes and nudged him a little bit. She looked across the table at the child who was contently coloring and then back at the large man whose thigh was pressed up against hers. She rested her head on her hand as she watched him. He felt her eyes on him and he slowly turned his head to look at her. They held each other's gazes for what felt like forever until Rachel looked away quickly when she heard Ava squeal. She scanned through the restaurant, wondering why they still haven't been waited on. As she was looking around, she saw a man that looked way too familiar. As she stared at him, she realized that it was just the man that she thought it was. He was standing at a table talking to a small family and laughing. Rachel grabbed Finn's leg right above the knee and squeezed hard. Finn looked over to see all of the color completely drained out of her face and a horrified look on her face. "You okay?" He whispered. Rachel nodded slightly and tried her best to give him a small smile. She turned her head to look at Madie and saw that she was looking in the direction of the man. She had a knowing look on her face, and Rachel knew that Madie had recognized the man. Rachel took a deep breath and tried her best to hide behind Finn. She watched the man step away from the table and start walking in their direction. She noticed the apron he was sporting and figured that he was a waiter. He used to be a _doctor, _why the hell was he here? She clenched her other hand onto Finn's arm and squeezed tightly. _Please don't be our waiter, please don't be our waiter. _Rachel thought. She had no such luck and the man came striding over to them with a huge smile on his face. _Shit. _

"Sorry about the wait. Welcome to TGI Friday's, my name is—Oh my god. Rachel?"

Finn dropped his eyebrows and looked over to Rachel who was squeezing his arm and thigh as tight as she could. She let out a deep breath and tried her best to smile up at him. Finn knew her well enough to tell that the smile was forced.

"Hey…"

"A-and Madie and Ava! Um, it's good to see you three girls. Ava has gotten big. Um, H- How have you been?" The man asked, clearly nervous.

"We've been fine." Rachel said quietly.

"That's good." The waiter mumbled. "So can I start you off with some drinks?"

Finn looked over to Rachel who was staring down at her lap, and then back to the man. "Uh, she'll have a diet coke, I'll take a Dr. Pepper, and the little ones will have a lemonade and a milk."

The waiter nodded and right as he started to walk off, Finn stopped him. "Um, I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."

"Jeremy." He smiled.

Finn nodded and as soon as he walked away he turned back to Rachel and immediately flung his arm around her to pull her in.

"Oh gosh, Rach. I'm so sorry." Finn whispered.

Rachel obliged and leaned into Finn. "No, it's fine. I'm fine. I'm over it." Rachel smiled. "Just a bit shocked, that's all."

Finn could actually hear the genuine in her voice and knew that she really was okay. "I'm here if you need me. I can punch his guts out."

Rachel laughed a little bit. "Thank you Finn, but that's not necessary. I'm way too good for him anyways."

"Now we've both had an awkward interaction with our ex's today… I mean yours was much worse but still." Finn said.

"Mommy, was that Jeremy?" Madie wondered.

"Yes it was." Rachel confirmed.

Madie looked thoughtfully at her mother with pursed lips. "I haven't really missed him that much." She said, honestly. "I like Finn _way_ more."

Rachel smiled at her daughter and chuckled. "Me too, baby girl."

Finn smiled widely and placed a quick kiss on Rachel's temple.

Jeremy came back and handed out their drinks. "Are you guys ready to order?" He choked out.

Rachel nodded softly and started to speak, but nothing came out. She looked to Finn for help and he got the hint.

"Uh yeah, I'll have the Philly Stacked Burger, she'll have The House Salad and French Onion Soup, and Madie and Ava will both have the mac-and-cheese with fries off of the kid's menu." Finn ordered.

Jeremy glared at Finn after he wrote the order down. He looked over at Madie, who was in another world, then to Rachel, whose eyes were focused on her hands in her lap.

"Okay, I'll have that out as soon as I can." He said, quietly.

"That dude has a mean glare." Finn whispered to Rachel.

"How did you know what the girls and I wanted to eat? We never told you." Rachel wondered.

Finn pursed his lips and shrugged. "You're my best friend and I know practically everything about you. And from the past months, I have picked up a thing or two about what Madie and Ava like to eat and I know that mac-and-cheese is their favorite."

Rachel smiled widely at him. "It's the little things that make me so happy."

"I make you happy?" Finn asked.

"Incredibly."

The four of them enjoyed their dinner quietly. Finn paid (didn't give the dude a tip), and as they were walking towards the exit, Rachel heard someone call her name. She turned around to see Jeremy waving her down. "Hey Rachel, can we talk?"

"No."

"Rachel, please."

She gave a deep breath. "Fine."

"Come on, let's go outside."

They all five stepped out onto the busy sidewalk outside.

"Can we talk… privately?" Jeremy asked, looking towards Finn and the girls.

"No." Rachel made clear. "They stay or we don't talk at all."

Madie turned around and wrapped her arms around one of Finn's legs. He reached his free arm down and ran his hand through her blonde hair. Jeremy eyed them for a moment before focusing his attention back on Rachel. "Look Rachel, I'm sorry."

"Oh, are you? What are you even doing here? I thought that you were a big shot New York City doctor?"

"I-I was. I got fired." When Rachel didn't show any signs of sympathy, he continued. "So, who is this?"

"This is Finn." Rachel said, confidently.

"Finn? Like _the _Finn?" Jeremy asked.

Finn raised his eyebrows. Apparently this guy knew about him, which means Rachel had brought him up.

"Yeah…" Rachel said quietly.

"Rachel, I really think that we should talk in private." Jeremy insisted.

"No. Go ahead and say what you need to say or else I'm gonna be leaving."

"No! Okay. Uh… Rachel, I get that you're upset and maybe a little angry at me, but I… I miss you."

"Y-you what?" Rachel spit out.

"I miss you. C'mon, I think that I'm still in love with you. You're all that I have been thinking about for these past couple months."

Finn was about the punch the shit out of this guy.

"What? No. Y-you _cannot _say that. You cannot lead me on, practically move in with me, and then just vanish one night. You left my five year old and infant home with a damn babysitter and disappeared! And all you left me was a freaking email a week later. So, no. You cannot say that you miss me. And you do _not _get any sympathy from me because you got fired from your precious job that was always more important than me. I feel like the only reason you are saying any of this right now is because you're lonely and you want my money. I actually cried when you left me like that, but now that I look back at it I have _no _idea why. You never loved me. I never even loved you. I mean, I sure thought that I did. But I was still hung up on my husband and just needed someone to heal my heartbreak. I _actually _trusted you. I was a complete idiot for that. So, please, do not say that you miss me and you are still in love with me, because that is complete bullshit. And even if it wasn't, I certainly have not missed you and I am _not _in love with you. I stopped missing you the day after you were gone. Goodbye, Jeremy."

Rachel grabbed Finn's hand and pulled him with her down the street. They were practically running and she didn't stop until they reached the car. She opened the door and slammed it shut while Finn placed the girls in their seats. He ran around to the other side and hopped in. Rachel was staring down at her feet.

"You okay?" Finn said softly.

She slowly looked up towards him and nodded. She grabbed his hand and interlocked their fingers.

"Can we go back to your place?"

"Sure."

Finn carried Ava and Madie upstairs to his apartment and laid them down in their beds. He shut the door and shuffled into the living room where Rachel was sitting on the couch with her head in her hands.

"Rach?"

She looked up to Finn and he noticed her tear stained cheeks.

"Hey, hey, hey. Why are you crying?" He sat down and pulled her right up against him.

"Why did he have to do that?" Rachel cried.

Finn didn't know how to answer.

"I don't understand! Why did he have to do that? I-I don't get it."

"Wait, Rach… you're not still hung up on him… are you?"

"No!" She reassured. "Not even a little bit. But I am still pissed at him. He's a big reason for my trust issues! And he thinks he can just come back after what he did?"

"He's an idiot, Rach."

"I was finally getting better! And he just made all of the bad memories come back!"

"Baby, shhh. Come on, look at me." Finn grabbed her face. "You _are _much better. Don't let him ruin that. He's a complete asshole and he does not deserve you. Don't cry over him."

"I'm not crying over him…" Rachel said quietly.

"Then why are you crying?"

"To be honest… I don't know. One thing that _has _changed in the past ten years is that I cry. A lot. And most of the time it's for no reason and sometimes it for every reason. I just bottle all of my emotions up and then every once and a while I just break down and let it all out. It actually hasn't happened in a while… I haven't really had a reason to. But, seeing him… he just brought back all of these emotions that I felt while dating him. I was so messed up and broken before you came back and he reminded me of that. I need to just cry right now. Just let me cry." Rachel threw her head back in her hands and big sobs came out.

Finn sat stunned for a few seconds, but finally got it together and grabbed her hands from her face. He pulled her onto his lap and cradled her, rocking her and singing softly into her ear. After several minutes she calmed down a little bit.

"Talk to me, Rach."

She sniffled.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Kyle." She answered, suddenly.

Finn certainly was not expecting that answer.

"I-I don't miss him. Well, I do. I miss the old him. I miss the Kyle that I was married to before he went insane. It's not really that I miss _him_ but that I miss the times when everything wasn't so fucked up. And I know you probably don't want to hear about my happy little life with another man—"

"No, Rach. I do. Tell me everything. Talk to me. I'm here to listen."

Rachel looked up at him a little shocked. "Well, believe it or not, Kyle was actually a really amazing man. He was so sweet, like you. And he really was a great father to Madie for the first couple of years. He always used to dance with her and sing on the top of his lungs, even though he couldn't sing to save his life. He was also very funny, always making Madie and I laugh." She paused, wincing a little bit. "I still can't tell where it all went wrong."

They were both quiet for a while, only the sound of their breathing filling the air.

"When I started to notice him slipping away, I did everything in my power to save it. I cooked all of his favorite meals every night and made sure it was always ready when he got home, I did all of his laundry and dry-cleaning, I brought him lunch at his office every week, I bought him tons of shit, made sure he always had a fresh drink, had god damn sex with him like I was a fucking doll whenever he pleased, and even managed to get myself pregnant thinking that would fix every problem we ever had." Her tone had started soft, but quickly turned angry and bitter. "I don't know what the fuck I did wrong. But, apparently something bad. Because I was nothing but good to that man a-a-and he—" Her breath caught in her throat and a loud sob came out.

"Rachel, you cannot blame yourself for any of that. You did absolutely _nothing _wrong. God _he _is the one who lost everything good he would ever have. He is a stupid, ignorant asshole who does not deserve you. You are way better than he will ever be. He clearly does not see what he is missing out on. He must be blind. You, Madie, and Ava are the three most perfect girls I have ever laid eyes on. And if he can't see that, then he's the biggest idiot in the world. Please don't let him get to you anymore. You don't need him, Rach."

"He destroyed me." She cried. "He tore me down. He never abused me physically or really verbally for that matter, but he abused the fuck out of my emotions. He made me feel like the biggest piece of shit every day. Just the tones and looks he gave me. At the beginning, he would complement me all the time and make me feel like a damn princess. But then he stopped and one day he never looked at me the same. He looked at me as if I were a child o-or a damn slave. And when he left me all alone with two children and made me actually fearful of him, my heart shattered. And I have never managed to put it all back together."

Finn squeezed her as tight as he possibly could. He had no idea what to say. "Rach, I don't know what I can do to help you, but I am here for you. I will listen to you talk forever or sit here and cry with you forever. You _will _get through this. I know you and I know that he will be nothing but a memory in no time. It's just a matter of you wanting to get better and stronger. And I know you do."

Rachel looked up to Finn to see a tear rolling down his cheek. She reached up and wiped it away with her thumb. Rachel placed a kiss on the corner of Finn's mouth and snuggled further into his chest. "Thank you Finn."

"You're welcome, Rach."

They were silent for a while, Rachel sniffling every once and a while and Finn whispering kind words to her.

"And for the record, what you said to Jeremy today, that was bad ass."

Rachel laughed slightly and Finn shifted so that they were laying down on the couch and he was spooning Rachel from behind.

"Can I just ask one more question?" Finn whispered.

"Sure."

"How did Jeremy know who I was?"

Rachel giggled. "You played a huge part in my high school life, so when we talked about that kind of stuff, your name came up a lot. Plus, Kurt has a big mouth."

He laid there breathing in the scent of her hair and listening to her breathing slow down. When he thought that she was asleep, he whispered, "I love you, Rach."

She definitely wasn't asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm will Rachel have a good or bad response? Please review! :) <strong>


	11. Chapter 10

**Okay, here you go! :) This chapter is kind of confusing, but I meant for it to be that way. Because, y'know, women are really confusing and Rachel is no exception. It's a lot for one chapter. I was going to break it up into two, but decided against that. Just keep in mind that all of this happens in a three week span! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Rachel woke up to the smell of fresh coffee and she followed the music that she heard into the kitchen. When she walked through the door, she saw Madie and Finn dancing around and making breakfast while Ava laughed along from Finn's arms. Finn, shirtless and Madie, in her little pink night gown. She leaned against the door frame and watched the sight unravel in front of her. She cleared her throat and both heads flung around to look at her.<p>

"Mommy!"

"Hi, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" She bent down to give her daughter a hug and kiss.

"Yes, I love sleeping over at Finn's house."

"That's good." Rachel smiled as she took Ava from Finn's arms.

"Hey, Rach. You feeling better?" Finn asked quietly.

"Uh… y-yeah. I-I'm… I'm good. I'm fine… better." She choked out, focusing her eyes on the baby. She was nervous and shaking a little bit.

"You sure?" Finn noticed her odd behavior.

Rachel smiled. "Yes, Finn. I'm sure. Thank you."

"Okay…" He said cautiously. "Munchkin and I made breakfast."

"I see that! It smells good!"

"Have a seat."

They all four sat down to eat breakfast together. Rachel noticed how domestic-like this looked and started shaking even more. To say that she was freaking out would be a huge understatement. She had fallen asleep last night in Finn's arms, he had told her that he loved her, and she had woken up to him and Madie cooking breakfast. It was a lot all at once. Sure, Finn and Rachel had fallen asleep together before, and Madie had spent the night at Finn's and made breakfast with him. But they had never _all_ four stayed in one place. And Finn hadn't actually ever told her that he loves her out loud, even though she pretty much already knew it. It felt way too… committed. No. She cannot be committed. Nothing good _ever _comes from Rachel being committed. It's like Finn and blondes—it just doesn't work. She loved Finn, she really did, but she could not lose him. Of course, freaking out like this wasn't going to help with that, but what else could she do? Rachel stood up quickly and ran out of the kitchen. She ran straight towards the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Not even a second after she sat down against the door, Finn was pounding on it.

"Rach? Rachel! Rach, what's wrong?"

Rachel tried her best to just take deep breaths, but it wasn't working.

"Rachel, open the door! What's the matter? Are you sick?" She was worrying him beyond belief. "C'mon Rachel, you're scaring me."

Rachel stuck her head between her legs and let out the sobs.

"Rach, are you crying? Let me in please. We can talk. Let's talk." He was begging now.

Rachel quieted her sobs and she could hear Finn outside the door talking to Madie. She heard Finn ask Madie to go play and she heard little footsteps running down the hall.

"Rachel, come on. Please open up." His voice was quieter now, more pleading.

She finally gained the courage to stand up and open the door. She walked silently past him without looking up to his face. She grabbed Madie and Ava and headed for the front door.

"Whoa whoa, hey! Rachel talk to me! What's wrong?" Finn ran in front of her, beating her to the front door.

"Finn, I just need to go. I need some time, okay?"

"No, Rach. We need to talk. What's going on?" Finn wouldn't leave this alone.

Rachel stepped around him and pulled the girls into the hallway. Just before she was about to walk away she turned back to Finn and said, "Please don't follow me. I need some space."

Rachel went straight home and cuddled up on the couch for the rest of the night, putting on a happy face for Madie and Ava. She tried not to think about what she just did to Finn, but it was pretty hard when he was calling her every ten minutes. Eventually, she decided to pick up a call from Kurt. Finn had clearly called him because he wanted her to come over to talk.

* * *

><p>The following day, Rachel did just that. She dragged Madie and Ava over to Kurt and Blaine's house and let them play with Braylon while she sat down in the kitchen with Kurt.<p>

"So what's going on?" Kurt asked.

"Nothing." Rachel shrugged, sipping her coffee.

Kurt gave her a pointed look. "Really? Finn called me four times last night wondering if I had talked to you. He was saying that you freaked out and left his place without telling him what was wrong. And plus, you look like shit. By looking at your eyes I can tell that you've been crying. So I'm going to ask you again. What's going on?"

Rachel bit her lip and lowered her eyes. "I-I'm not really sure…"

"Well then start by telling me what happened." Kurt offered.

"I woke up on Finn's couch to him and Mads making breakfast together. Then we started eating at the table all together and after a few minutes I just started freaking out. I was having some sort of panic attack or something and I couldn't stop it. I ran into the bathroom and started crying and then left without saying a word to Finn."

"Well no wonder he was freaking out! I would too!"

Rachel shot Kurt a look. He raised his hands up in innocence.

"So it was just all too domestic for you I'm guessing." Kurt said.

"And that's why I love you." Rachel agreed. "I-I'm just not ready yet. It felt like we were _married. _I mean there is no way that I am anywhere ready to be in a committed relationship again. My heart still has tons of holes in it. Although, I will say that Finn has filled up tons of those holes. But still, I can't. I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

"Look Rach, I get it. Your husband is a dick and left you just over a year ago and you just got out of a crappy relationship of seven months. I get it. But I don't think that Finn does." Kurt said.

"I think he does! We've talked about it!"

"And what have you told him?"

"I have told him that my trust is at an all-time low and there is no way that I can be in a relationship right now. A-And I told him that he is helping me build up my trust so I am getting better but I'm still not quite there."

"Rachel you can't tell him that you are building all your trust up in him and not expect him to think that you two are going to date soon! He thinks that you are going to be ready like next month, or even next week! Hell, he even broke up with his girlfriend for you! You need to tell him straight up that you are not looking for a relationship. You need to tell him _before _he falls more in love with you. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but the poor guy has been through enough with you. He doesn't need you to break his heart _again._"

Rachel made an extremely worried face.

"Oh god, what?" Kurt asked.

Rachel bit her lip and avoided Kurt's eyes.

"Rachel Barbra Berry, what did you do?"

"He told me that he loved me last night when he thought that I was asleep." She blurted.

Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I knew it."

"Well what am I supposed to do? I can't help that he's in love with me! I'm lovable!"

"Yes, but you're not dateable." Kurt spit back.

"I know, you're right." Rachel rolled her eyes. "I know that I shouldn't be doing this to him. I mean I try not to lead him on, but when I look into those damn eyes I just melt and all my worry goes away."

"So you're in love with him too?" Kurt asked, not shocked at all.

Rachel's eyes widened. "What? I don't know..."

"You don't know? You're not sure if you are in love with Finn or not?"

Rachel looked down into her cup. "I guess I am… He's great. He's great with the girls and I really love nothing more than being with and around him."

"Look, regardless it doesn't matter. Clearly you two are looking for two completely different things. He wants a serious committed relationship with someone he can marry and have kids with and you cannot give him that."

"I can!" Rachel argued.

"Right now." Kurt finished, holding his hand up. "You can't give that to him right now. Maybe someday in the future, but not right now."

"I want another husband. I want more kids. I don't want to be alone forever."

"I know that Rachel! But you don't want all of that right now do you?"

Rachel shook her head no.

"You need to talk to him. You need to clear everything up. I'm sure you think that he knows, but trust me he doesn't fully understand. Talk to him and explain everything to him and he'll understand. Don't just run out and completely ignore him."

Kurt got up and left Rachel alone to think.

* * *

><p>Rachel walked slowly up to Finn's door and quietly knocked on it. Finn answered within five seconds, which startled Rachel.<p>

"Rach…" Finn said, cautiously.

"We need to talk." Rachel said, pushing past Finn. She walked straight to the living room where a young brunette woman was sitting on the couch in the spot where _Rachel _usually sits. The strange woman looked up and smiled at Rachel when she entered. "Oh hello." She said brightly.

Rachel scowled towards Finn. "Uh Rach, this is Mary. She's a new teacher and asked me if I could help her out a little bit. So I invited her over."

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Finn.

"Mary, this is Rachel. My uh… my… Rachel." He said awkwardly.

"Hi Rachel!" Mary stood up.

"Hello." Rachel smiled politely, but wanting to scratch to girls eyes out. "Finn, I really need to talk to you."

"Let me get out of your way, then. I'll see you on Monday." Mary said.

Finn walked her to the door and closed it behind her. He turned around and stared at Rachel with his hands in his pockets.

"She's pretty." Rachel choked out. "She's brunette, just like you like them."

"Rachel." Finn warned.

"I mean I didn't think that you would move on so quickly." She said softly.

"Rachel!" Finn said again.

"But, hey. Why hang on to me when you could be with _her._"

"Rachel, stop!" Finn said, loudly. "Why are you doing this?"

Rachel's face softened and she took a deep breath. "I-I'm sorry…"

"What's going on with you?" Finn asked, inching towards her.

Rachel slowly moved to sit down on the couch and Finn followed suit, giving her some space. Rachel dropped her face into her hands and shook her head.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

"Stop apologizing and tell me what's wrong."

Rachel shook her head.

"You can talk to me. You know that." Finn insisted.

"It's…" Rachel began. "It's too much."

She finally looked up to Finn to see the confused look on his face.

"You and I. It's too much…"

"What do you mean?" Finn asked quietly.

"We fell asleep on the couch together and I woke up to you and my daughter making breakfast together… it's all too domestic. Not to mention the fact that you said you loved me…"

"You heard that? I thought that you were asleep."

"I wasn't."

"I'm sorry…"

"Every time that I get involved and committed to someone, they either dump me because all they wanted was sex, or they just _disappear_, or they leave me at a train station—"

"Wait what?" Finn asked. "Do you not trust me? I thought that you trusted me? Y-you said…" His voice got louder.

"I do! I do trust you, but…"

"But what? I didn't _leave _you anywhere! It was ten years ago. I put you on a train to go to New York so that you could live out your dream! I thought you understood that? I thought you said that it was the bravest thing that a man has ever done for you?! Now you're using it in a list of things that men have done to you that have torn you down?" Finn stood up and started pacing.

"Finn, no. You're not listening to me! I shouldn't have used it in that way. Please, just calm down."

Finn looked over at Rachel impatiently.

"Finn, I am just trying to say that I've been through a lot with men in my life and I'm not ready to jump into another relationship yet. You know that… we've talked about it."

"Yeah, and I am available and waiting until you are ready."

"I-I know…"

"So why are you freaking out? Because I said that I loved you when I thought that you were sleeping? I mean, you should have already known that. It's pretty obvious."

"I did already know."

"Okay, then what's the matter?" Finn demanded.

"I-I don't know. Just, please be patient with me. Let me think."

Finn sighed and fell back into the chair on the other side of the room.

"I have trust issues." She said quietly.

"Rachel, I know." Finn said, growing even more impatient.

"Let me finish." She demanded. "I know that I said this back at Sardi's but I am going to say it again. I have trust issues. The first love that I ever had made me think that we were on our way to our wedding, when in reality you were putting me on a train. I was heartbroken, humiliated, and angry even. But I understood. And I was grateful every day for it. I forgave you because it was the most heroic thing that any man had ever done for me—even still to this day. Then the next boyfriend I had was a hooker, the next couple were just scrounging for sex, the next one got me pregnant twice, cheated on me and then disappeared leaving nothing but a note, and then the next one bailed after seven months leaving nothing but an _email_. So, yes, I have trust issues. But, I'm going to say it again, you are helping me. I am building my trust back up in you and its helping. But, I'm still broken. I'm still not ready to be in another relationship again. We have talked about this countless times. I am completely messed up a-a-and damaged. Yeah, I'm damaged goods. You need to understand that. You need to know that all this spending the night together and making breakfast is making me feel like I am committed to you. And that _terrifies _me. If I get committed to you then, in my mind, I feel like I am just going to end up losing you completely and I can't. I can't go through that. Not again. If that happens, I'll break completely and I don't know if I will ever be able to put myself back together. I have only ever _truly _loved two men in my life. And in some fucked up way of crossing one of them off, the universe is trying to tell me that you are the man that I should be with. And I want to be with you so damn much, b-but I can't. Not right now. I need more time."

The room was completely silent.

"Rach… Rach you are not damaged goods."

Rachel looked up to Finn with wet eyes.

"I understand. I understand 100%. I'm sorry that I flipped without letting you explain."

"Finn I know that you are looking for someone to settle down with and get married and have kids with, but I can't do that right now. I can't give you what you need. We are looking for totally different things and it sucks but that's how it is. I don't need to keep dragging you along with me. You don't need to be in the middle of all my problems and shit. That's incredibly unfair to you."

"I'll wait! I will wait however long I need to, Rachel. I will do anything for you to be mine again and if that means waiting then I will do it. Whether it's two weeks or two years. I will be right here for you."

"No, Finn."

"_Yes _Rachel!" Finn yelled, standing up.

"No. I couldn't ask you to do that. You will learn to resent me and then…" She paused, shaking her head. "You can find a nice brunette girl to have a family with and everything will be great because you won't be waiting on me for two years. It's for the best, Finn. We need to stop kidding ourselves. W-we can give each other space until everything dies down and then we can move on from each other and it'll be great because we will still be able to see each other without the attached feelings and without the risk of me losing you."

"Rachel, don't." Finn said, a tear dropping down his cheek. "If you walk away now, then my heart _will _be into a million little pieces. You're my everything. I-I can't lose you…" He tried. "You just said that you would break completely if you lost me—how is that any different than you walking away?"

"If I walk away now, then it's _my_ choice and _my_ decision. As opposed to if we get together, and by some awful chance, something happens and it doesn't work, then it would be ten times harder than this is."

"Rach, nothing will happen! We are meant to be together—"

"Finn, you don't get it!" Rachel screeched, standing up. "I can't be with you. I love y—hanging out with you and being with you and doing things with you and the girls, but I cannot be with you."

"Why not?"

She was quiet for a long time, thinking about what to say.

"Because you deserve to be happy and I can't make you happy." She said so quietly that Finn had to lean in to hear her. "Not with all of craziness and shit that comes with me. You need to let go while you still can."

"You do make me happy! The only other time that I have even been this happy is when I was in high school with _you_. You can't do this to me, Rach. I can't survive it. The only reason I let you leave the first time is because deep in my heart I knew that we would find our way back to each other."

Rachel was bawling by now, Finn almost the same.

"Every time I am with someone, something awful happens. I have some kind of fucked up curse and I just need to accept that. I can't lose you for good. I would be perfectly fine with knowing you were happy and had a family, even though it wasn't with me. As long as I can still see you and talk to you on occasion."

"But I want it to be with you." Finn tried.

"And I can't give you that right now."

"_Right now._" Finn said, reaching towards her. "You can't give me that _right now. _But, in the future when your heart is healed, you'll want that. I will be the one to give it to you. Don't throw me out of your life. We can make this work. You won't lose me, I promise."

"I can't." She shook her head. "I need to get away now, before the feelings get any deeper."

"Rachel, the feelings are already as deep as they can get! We _can _be together." Finn choked. He really was so confused.

"No we can't!" Rachel fought back. "I won't do this to you!"

"Then don't." Finn shot back. "Don't do this to me. Don't leave."

"I have to."

"What about Madie and Ava? I love them too. Madie is in my class…"

"It'll be okay…"

"Rachel." Another tear drop fell down his cheek. "Why?"

Rachel shook her head and closed her eyes. "I'm afraid."

"Of what?" Finn asked.

She didn't say a word for a really _really _long time.

"I'm afraid that you'll resent me. I'm afraid that if we do ever get together that you'll realize that I'm not enough and it was a mistake."

"Rachel—"

"I can't handle the heartbreak that would come along with it."

"_Rachel—_"

"If we get married and have a baby and then you decide that you don't want me anymore, then I don't even know what I would do."

"So you're walking away and breaking both of our hearts because you're scared that I'm going to break your heart in the future? Rachel, that's insane! I would never—" Finn raised his voice.

"Exactly. I'm insane and you deserve much better."

"Rach, that's not what I meant." He whispered. "You know that."

"This is for the best. You make me feel like I am in high school again and that is something that neither of us need. It might be acceptable for us to be friends and see each other from time to time, but I can't let you be a considerable part of my life anymore. Our time has come and gone and now we need to go back to living our own separate lives. I can't do this to you, it's so unfair. Goodbye, Finn." Rachel choked. She flew out the door, leaving Finn standing in the middle of his living room, tears rolling down his cheeks. It took him about ten minutes of crying and pacing aimlessly before he hopped in his car and sped to her apartment. He took the stairs by two's all the way up to the Penthouse. He banged on her door, completely out of breath. It took about five minutes of banging before one of the neighbors came out and yelled at him. He apologized and sat down on the floor right next to her door. None of this made any sense to him. One minute she is pouring her heart out to him telling him how she can't lose him again, and the next she is slamming the door as she runs out of his apartment in tears, saying that she can't be with him. _What? _

* * *

><p><em>Two weeks<em> had gone by and Rachel still wouldn't answer Finn's calls and she did everything she possibly could to avoid him. She knew deep down that she was being silly and she would never be able to stay away from Finn, but for the time being she just needed some space to think. She had to give the man credit though—he really doesn't give up. He called and texted every day, but not enough to annoy her. Just enough to show that he really _really _cared. He sent letters home with Madie that were for Rachel. He had Kurt call her several times and deliver messages. He even showed up on Thursday at her apartment, claiming that he was there to babysit. Luckily, Rachel was still upstairs getting ready and Taryn, the _babysitter_, had answered the door telling him that she was watching the girls for the night.

As she was doing laundry on Wednesday, Rachel got a call from the school. At first she rolled her eyes, thinking that it was Finn. But then when they called a second time, she noticed that it was not just the school, but the school _nurse. _Her heart dropped and she answered the phone as quick as she possibly could.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Montgomery?"

"Yes ma'am, that's me." (Kind of).

"Hi, this is Mrs. Bond, the school nurse at Manhattan Park Elementary."

"Is everything okay?" Rachel worried.

"Your daughter, Madilyn Montgomery, seems to have a very bad stomach ache. She threw up once, and she also has a bit of a fever. I wouldn't worry too much, it's probably just a bug, but it would probably be a good idea to come and get her."

"I'm on my way."

She took Madie straight home, gave her some water and crackers, and put her to bed.

* * *

><p>The following morning, Madie seemed to have gotten worse. She said that her stomach was hurting even more, and judging by the pitiful and pale look on her little face, Rachel believed her. She had also thrown up several times during the night, leaving both Madie and Rachel exhausted. Rachel did everything she could for her daughter, but nothing seemed to help. It got to the point where Madie was in tears, so Rachel called the doctor, fearing that it was more than just a bug. The quickest they could get her in was the following morning, but they gave her plenty of tips. Rachel tried them all, but none of them seemed to work. Finally, she gave her some stomach medicine that made her drowsy and Madie finally stopped crying and fell asleep. Kurt showed up to watch the girls because Rachel had a show that she needed to go to. When she finally got home, Kurt left taking Ava with him (Rachel didn't want her getting sick), and Rachel took a hot shower and climbed in bed after kissing her sick little angel good night. "You'll be okay, baby girl." She had whispered. "Just get some rest and in the morning we will go see the nice doctor."<p>

Rachel woke up startled by the piercing screams that were coming from down the hall. She looked over at the clock: 3:00 a.m. Rachel shot out of bed and ran down the hallway, busting into Madie's room. Madie was in tears and yelling and screaming about how much her stomach was hurting. Rachel had _never _seen her act like this, even when she busted open her head when that kid threw a tap shoe at her head in preschool. She pulled her daughter up in her arms and dialed the number of the first person she thought of.

"Hello? Rach? What's wrong?"

"Finn!" Rachel choked out quickly. "Finn, something is really wrong with Madie's stomach. She is screaming and bawling and I don't know what else to do. Can you take us to the hospital?" Rachel spit out frantically.

"I'm on my way." Finn answered.

He ran into the room not even ten minutes later, completely out of breath. Rachel was sitting on the bed, cradling her crying daughter, trying to soothe her with a song. She looked up with a distraught look on her face and Finn promptly made his was over to them, scooping Madie up in his arms.

"Where's Ava?" He whispered.

"Kurt's."

They arrived at the hospital in record time (Rachel thinks that it even took longer when she was in labor) and Finn practically ran into the emergency room with Madie laying restlessly in his arms, still in tears.

Rachel checked them in and they were back seeing the doctor within seconds. The doctor did a quick exam on Madie and knew what was wrong within minutes.

"She has appendicitis." The doctor said, hurriedly.

"What?" Rachel squawked. "Can that happen to a six year old?"

"It can happen to anyone. We will have to take her straight to surgery because by her symptoms, it is on the verge of bursting. All you need to do is sign this." The doctor pushed a clipboard in front of her and Rachel looked at it worriedly.

"Rach, just sign it. They will take good care of her." Finn said.

Rachel signed it quickly and before she could even blink, the doctors were rolling her daughter away on a stretcher while she cried out for her mommy. When she was out of sight, Rachel immediately broke down into Finn's arms. "I-I thought it was just a stomach bug. S-she... I had no idea. Oh god." She let out a huge sob. He guided her over to some chairs in the waiting area and let her cry it out. "Shh, Rach. It's okay. She's gonna be okay."

Finn called Kurt, Katherine, and Rachel's dads for her while Rachel sat in the chair, staring straight ahead and holding Madie's stuffed bear close to her. Several hours later, Rachel had finally cried herself to sleep on Finn's shoulder. When he saw the doctor approaching, he gently shook Rachel awake and they both stood upon his arrival.

"Everything went great, and she is fine. The surgery went smoothly. She's one lucky little girl. You brought her in at just the right time and we were able to remove it before it burst. We just put her in a room and she should wake up within the hour. She'll be back to normal in no time."

"Thank you so much." Rachel said profusely. Finn's shook the man's hand and then they made their way upstairs and into Madie's room. She was sleeping peacefully in the bed, something she hasn't done in a couple of days.

"Is she in any pain?" Rachel worried.

"Not at all. We just gave her some medicine for that and we can give her more if she starts hurting."

"Thank goodness." Rachel breathed.

"We will see how she is doing when she wakes up."

"Thank you so much." Rachel said as the nurse left the room. Finn and Rachel pulled up chairs on either side of her bed and stared at the small girl.

"I should probably call everyone back and tell them." Rachel whispered. "It's already 6:30."

"I need to call the school and tell them that I won't be there today." Finn stood.

Rachel looked up at him. "You're staying?"

Finn scrunched his eyebrows together. "_Of course _I'm staying. Why wouldn't I?"

Rachel shrugged and looked away quickly. Finn gave her a defeated look and then excused himself out in the hallway. After he got off of the phone with the school, he stepped back inside the room in time to hear Rachel say, "Yeah, he stayed here with me all night. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for him… I know… I know, you're right… yeah… yeah I will… I promise Kurt… _yes _I will talk to him… _Kurt_...Okay…I'll see you in a little bit… Love you more…Okay, bye."

"Everything okay?" Finn spoke up.

Rachel looked up at him, startled. "Uh, yeah. Everything is good. Kurt and Blaine are going to stop by with Ava later today."

Finn nodded. "Sounds good." He sat back down across from Rachel and stared in her direction. He looked away sheepishly when she caught his stare.

Madie started slowly waking up not even ten minutes later.

"Finn." Was the first thing that came out of her mouth when she spotted him, accompanied by a small smile.

"Hey beautiful. How're you feeling?" Finn squeezed her hand.

"Okay." She choked out. "I missed you."

"I missed you too peanut." Finn smiled. He had been calling her that for a while now, and it always brought a smile to her face when he did.

She looked over at Rachel who had a watery smile on her face. "Hi mommy."

"Hi angel. Does your tummy hurt?"

Madie shook her head no.

"Good. That means that the medicine is working."

"I wanna go home."

"I know baby girl." Rachel squeezed her hand. "But you gotta get better first."

Finn alerted the doctor, and after a quick examination, Madie fell back asleep.

* * *

><p>Kurt slowly opened the door to the hospital room and crept in with Ava, Blaine, and Braylon in tow.<p>

"Hey guys! Come on in." Rachel guided.

"Finn!" Ava's face lit up when she saw the man and she reached towards him.

"Hi Avie!" Finn picked her up. "I missed you and your beautiful little face." He held her tightly to his chest and Rachel felt a pang of guilt wash over her—she was the reason why Finn had missed her in the first place.

"How is she doing?" Kurt gestured to the little girl who was still sleeping in the bed.

"She's fine. Still trying to get her to drink some water and eat a little bit, but all around good."

"I'm glad." Kurt nodded. "And how is it with you and Finn?" Kurt whispered.

Rachel glanced over to Finn who was occupied with Ava and holding down a conversation with Blaine and Braylon.

"I still haven't really talked all that much to him…" Rachel grimaced. "I want to, but I don't know where to start."

"Rachel, are you telling me that you two have spent the _entire _day and night in this hospital room in _silence_? You? Rachel?"

Rachel hit Kurt on the arm playfully and backed out of the conversation. Kurt followed Rachel as they joined in quiet conversation with Blaine and Finn. As the hours went by, Katherine and Harold, Santana, Brittany, and the twins, Holly and Allie, and a couple of other of Madie's friends showed up. They all brought flowers, balloons, and stuffed animals. Madie was one loved and spoiled little princess. She proved to really not like this place though. Rachel couldn't count how many times Madie had said she wanted to go home. She had cried a bunch too, saying that she didn't want to be here anymore. The doctor came in, gave her more medicine, and she was out for the rest of the night.

"She is looking really great. We will see how she is doing tomorrow morning, and if all is good, she may be able to go home by tomorrow night. It just depends." The doctor explains.

"Thank you." Rachel smiled. "Do you have any cots that I can sleep on tonight or something?"

"Sure we do. I'll alert the nurses."

"Rachel, in the nicest way possible, you look exhausted. You need to go home, eat some real food, and sleep in your own bed." Kurt suggested. "Or at the least go home and shower."

"No." Rachel pointed. "I am not leaving her side. S-she's scared and—"

"Rachel, she is asleep. She won't even know that you are gone. You can be back in the morning before she wakes up." Katherine said.

Rachel shook her head.

"Plus, don't you have a couple shows tomorrow? You don't need to be looking like a zombie for that."

"I already called and my understudy is taking my place."

"Okay, regardless, you need to go home and sleep. Kurt will keep Ava and you can have a nice night without worry. Madie is knocked out on morphine." Santana put in.

"Mrs. Montgomery o-or Berry?" He paused, checking the chart. "Madie is in wonderful hands here. Our night nurses are exceptional and I don't have a doubt in my mind that Madie would be more than okay if you went home for the night. She shouldn't even wake up until morning." The doctor stepped in.

Rachel looked around the room. "Rachel, it's not a bad idea." Finn spoke up.

"O-Okay." Rachel reluctantly agreed. "I'll go home and eat and shower, _but_ I'm coming back and staying here tonight. She's my baby girl, I don't want to leave her here all by herself."

"I'll take you home, then." Kurt smiled.

"I can stay here with her while you're gone, if you would like." Finn offered.

Rachel looked up at him with a tiny hint of a smile. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you."

* * *

><p>Katherine and Harold left with a promise to be back tomorrow, followed by Santana and Brittany, then Blaine with Braylon and Ava, then lastly Kurt and Rachel. Finn sat idle at Madie's bed, holding her tiny little hand and talking to her. (Even though she couldn't hear him.) He talked to her about her mother, about school, and about how much he loved her. After a while he began singing soft songs to her. He didn't even hear Rachel come back into the room not even an hour later. She touched his shoulder, causing him to jump.<p>

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She murmured. "What were you singing?"

Finn stood from his seat quickly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, it's just something that my mom used to sing to me when I was little. Always made me feel better."

"It was really beautiful." Rachel said, her voice still just a notch above a whisper.

Finn smirked a little bit as he studied her face. "Uh, she hasn't even moved a finger since you left. She's knocked out."

Rachel nodded as she ran her hand through her little girl's hair.

"And the nurses brought some cots in. T-they brought two… I guess they thought that I was staying too." He pointed at them, his fingers shaky. He was hoping it wasn't noticeable.

"And are you?" Rachel asked. "Staying?"

"I-I can if you'd like… I mean, I went home and showered earlier today and put fresh clothes on, so…"

"I'd like that." Rachel said, her eyes never leaving Madie. "It would make me feel… I don't know, safer."

"Okay." Finn smiled widely. "Absolutely."

They both laid down on their separate cots and stared at the ceiling. Each of them were dying to say something, but neither managed to speak up. They had both fallen asleep late in the night after not having spoken one word to each other.

* * *

><p>Finn stirred awake right as Madie was just beginning to wake up. He shook Rachel gently and she shot off of the cot, giving a bright smile to Madie.<p>

They stayed the entire day, while the doctors kept a close eye on her and even got her to get up and walk a little bit. She managed to keep down her food and use the restroom normally. The doctors said that she was doing really great and they allowed her to go home that night.

"We were planning on traveling to Ohio for the entire week of Thanksgiving. Do you think that we can still do that, or should we stay here?" Rachel asked, worriedly.

"That's in what, 3 weeks? She should be fine. No school for two weeks just to be safe. She can go the week before Thanksgiving and then should be just fine to go to Ohio. Just make sure she takes it easy, and rests a lot, but at the same time don't let her stay in bed too much. She needs to be up and around. The medication that we gave you should help with her pain so the only thing you really need to worry about is taking care of that incision. If you follow the instructions that we gave you, it should be healed by the end of next week."

"Okay, and when can she start back with her dancing?"

"After her trip to Ohio, she should be fine to continue dancing."

"Perfect. Thank you so much."

"No problem. You guys have a good night. Bye Madie!" The doctor kindly waved.

Finn carried Madie to the car, and after one quick stop to pick up Ava, they were back at Rachel's apartment. Finn walked them upstairs and made sure Madie was safe inside her bed while Rachel got Ava ready for bed. As he started to leave, Rachel spoke up.

"Will you stay?" She squeaked out. "Here. Will you stay with me tonight? I-I don't want to be alone."

"Of course." Finn answered. "I should probably run by my place and get a couple things. I can stop and get you something to eat if you'd like?"

"That would be great." Rachel nodded, not looking in his direction.

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can."

When Finn arrived back at Rachel's house, he found her sitting at the kitchen table, freshly showered and talking to her one of her Dad's on the phone. After she finally got done arguing with him about whether they should come all the way here or not, she hung up and immediately dug into the food that Finn placed in front of her. She smiled a bit to herself at the food selection Finn had chosen for her. It's like he had read her mind.

"Everything okay?" Finn asked.

"Yeah." She answered, shortly.

Finn nodded. "Do you mind if I go shower?"

"Not at all." Rachel replied, still not looking up at him.

Finn took a quick shower and when he stepped back into the kitchen, Rachel was gathering up her trash. She glanced back at Finn and gave a small smile. "You want to watch a movie?"

Finn shrugged. "Sure."

Rachel popped in a movie that they would both enjoy and they both sat down on the couch, Finn giving Rachel her space. Halfway through the movie, Rachel had scooted closer to Finn and before the movie was over, she was asleep on his shoulder.

"Rach." Finn whispered. "Rachel, why don't you go upstairs and get in your bed." She wouldn't budge. He shook her gently, but she just snuggled further into him. "Rach, you won't be comfortable on the couch all night."

Rachel mumbled a little bit, and even opened her eyes a bit, but still wouldn't get up. Finn sighed and stood up slowly. He turned and scooped Rachel's small frame up in his arms and started towards the stairs, hoping she wouldn't wake up and slap the shit out of him. He made it to her bedroom without any trouble and after he placed her under the covers and was making his way out of her room, he heard a small and barely audible voice. "Finn."

He turned towards her voice. "Stay with me, please." She squeaked out.

"A-are you sure?" Finn rubbed the back of his neck.

"Finn." Rachel said, tiredly. "I wouldn't have asked you to stay over just so you could sleep downstairs in the guest room." She whispered.

"Okay." Finn swallowed. He climbed under the covers and got comfortable, still giving Rachel some space. Clearly, she didn't need the space and she immediately curled her body into his and grabbed his hand. "Thank you."

"For what?" Finn wondered.

"For everything. For putting up with me through everything and helping Madie out a-and staying."

"Thank you for calling me." Finn answered.

"You were the first person I thought of."

"That means a lot, Rach."

They were silent for a couple minutes until he heard a sniffle. "Rach?"

"I'm so sorry." She choked.

"No, shh. It's okay." He ran his hand softly up and down her back. "Don't cry. We can talk tomorrow. Go to sleep, get some rest."

"Please don't go anywhere." She squeezed his hand, possessively.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Finn squeezed back. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

><p>Rachel woke up in an empty bed and immediately started to panic. That is, until she found a note in place of Finn's head that said 'Come find me' on it. She calmly crawled out of bed and walked out into the hallway, following the noise she heard. It led her to the music room, where Finn was sitting at the piano playing a familiar sounding song.<p>

"Hey." She murmured.

Finn turned around on the piano bench and stood up. "Hey." He breathed.

"What are you doing?" She questioned.

"I, uh. I want to sing you something." He spoke. "I know it's silly and cliché, but this song really says what I want to say." Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Just have a seat and…listen." He rubbed the back of his neck. She followed his directions and waited impatiently for him to start.

_I never felt nothing in the world like this before  
>Now I'm missing you and I'm wishing that you would come back through my door<br>Why did you have to go?  
>You could have let me know<br>So now I'm all alone._

Rachel fidgeted with her hands, avoiding Finn's eye contact.

_Girl you could have stayed but you wouldn't give me a chance  
>With you not around it's a little bit more than I can stand<br>And all my tears they  
>Keep running down my face<br>Why did you turn away?_

_So why does your pride make you run and hide?_  
><em>Are you that afraid of me?<em>  
><em>But I know it's a lie what you keep inside<em>  
><em>This is not how you want it to be<em>

_So baby I will wait for you_  
><em>'Cause I don't know what else I can do<em>  
><em>Don't tell me I ran out of time<em>  
><em>If it takes the rest of my life<em>  
><em>Baby I will wait for you<em>  
><em>If you think I'm fine it just ain't true<em>  
><em>I really need you in my life<em>  
><em>No matter what I have to do I'll wait for you<em>

Rachel was crying by now, trying her hardest to control herself._  
><em>_  
>It's been a long time since you called me<br>(How could you forget about me)  
>You got me feeling crazy (crazy)<br>How can you walk away,  
>Everything stays the same<br>I just can't do it baby_

_What will it take to make you come back_  
><em>Girl I told you what it is and it just ain't like that<em>  
><em>Why can't you look at me,<em>  
><em>You're still in love with me<em>  
><em>Don't leave me crying.<em>

She was bawling by now, holding Finn's eyes with her own.

_Baby why can't we just start over again?  
>Get it back to the way it was<br>If you give me a chance I can love you right  
>But you're telling me it won't be enough<em>

_So baby I will wait for you_  
><em>'Cause I don't know what else I can do<em>  
><em>Don't tell me I ran out of time<em>  
><em>If it takes the rest of my life<em>  
><em>Baby I will wait for you<em>  
><em>If you think I'm fine it just ain't true<em>  
><em>I really need you in my life<em>  
><em>No matter what I have to do I'll wait for you<em>

_So why does your pride make you run and hide_  
><em>Are you that afraid of me?<em>  
><em>But I know it's a lie what you're keeping inside<em>  
><em>That's not how you want it to be<em>

_Baby I will wait for you_  
><em>Baby I will wait for you<em>  
><em>If it's the last thing I do<em>

_Baby I will wait for you_  
><em>'Cause I don't know what else I can do<em>  
><em>Don't tell me I ran out of time<em>  
><em>If it takes the rest of my life<em>  
><em>Baby I will wait for you<em>  
><em>If you think I'm fine it just ain't true<em>  
><em>I really need you in my life<em>  
><em>No matter what I have to do I'll wait for you<em>

_I'll be waiting._

Finn breathed a huge sigh and let a tear drop that had been threatening to fall, finally roll down his cheek. Rachel let a huge sob out and covered her face with her hands. Finn was by her side in a second and was pulling her into him, cradling her.

"I'm so sorry." She cried. "I'm sorry."

"Rach, shh. I know, it's okay. Don't be sorry." He kept whispering kind words into her ear. When she finally calmed down enough, he took her face into his hands and wiped away her tears. "I'm so sorry Finn."

"Rachel, quit apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong."

Rachel nodded. "Yes I did. I yelled at you and threw you out of my life for absolutely no reason. You don't deserve that. I'm sorry."

Finn pulled her to her feet and hugged her tightly. "It's okay, Rach. I understand."

"You do?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah, you're going through a hard time in your life. You are allowed to get upset."

Rachel nodded into his chest. "I don't want you out of my life. I need you. You're like oxygen, I can't breathe without you around."

"Then why did you say all of those things?"

Rachel shrugged. "I am so scared."

"Of what?" Finn pushed.

"Of everything… Of my feelings. I haven't felt so strongly towards a person since Kyle and that terrifies me. So, I ran away. That's what I've become accustomed to doing—running away from my feelings. Like I said, I'm scared to be with you because I'm scared that I'm just going to lose you a-and I know that's really stupid because pushing you out of my life would be me losing you and it doesn't make any sense, but I'm just so fucked up in my head and I can't jump into anything right now. I need to work things out in my mind."

"Rachel, you are not fucked up."

"But I am, Finn! I am! I don't know what I'm doing. I just lashed out at you randomly and ran away from you because I was scared that you were gonna run away from me? That's insane and I can see how insane it is now and I'm really sorry…"

"Stop apologizing. You have every right to be confused right now. You have gone through _so damn much_ and it breaks my heart to see you like this. How you are able to be on Broadway every night and take care of those two beautiful girls and then handle all the shit that life has thrown at you is beyond me. You are so brave, and strong, and you can make it through this. All you need is time to figure things out, figure out what is going on in that beautiful head of yours. I will give you that time. I will give you all of the time that you need. And just so you know, I would _never _resent you. You will always and forever be more than enough for me. You make me so incredibly happy and I don't know what I can do to show you that, but you do."

Rachel stared up at Finn. "Is there any way that you can just forget everything that I said a couple weeks ago? I know that none of it made any sense and you were and still are really confused as to what is going on. So just forget it and we can start new. We can start with how I'm fucked up in the brain—don't try to argue because you know it's true—and I need time to figure things out. I need to let my insanity die down a little bit and I need to clear up my mind. In the meantime, it would be great if you could be my best friend again. Can you do that? Can you please just be my best friend?"

"Absolutely. Anything. I can be your best friend. You will never ever lose me. No matter what."

"Plus, you _just _got out of a relationship of over a year. No matter how much you want to, you really shouldn't be jumping into anything."

"You're absolutely right. I'm your best friend and that's it." Finn responded.

"Well maybe that's not it…" Rachel bit her lip. "We can just go really slowly. No labels or anything for a while. We can just go with the flow and see where it takes us. As I heal more, I will start taking bigger and bigger steps and then someday I will finally be able to call you mine without any worries in my mind or heart. But, for now, no labels, except for one. Best Friend."

Finn smiled and gently wiped a tear from her eye. "Deal. No more sleepovers on the couch and no more I love you's when I think that you're asleep. Whatever you need me to be, I'll be it. Tell me when I'm doing something that a friend wouldn't do. Just as long as you trust me."

"I do."

"Good."

"Finn?"

"Mm?"

"Best friends have sleepovers all the time."

Finn smiled widely. "They do, don't they?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hehe reviews are love 3<strong>


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